On The Three
by WindStar
Summary: Updated and Completed: The Teams of the World come to find that the Demolition Boys purposely lost the World Championships. With video evidence, they watch the Demolition Boy's lives form and how they made the choices they did to save the world.
1. Prologue

**UPDATE 12/21/2010: After going through my files, I realized that I did not post chapter 28 of this story. It's rather embarrassing, especially considering the fact that I reference it on numerous occasions, have completed this story and its sequel, and am working on its third installment... Because of this, I have posted it in its proper location. Chapter 28 is now (correctly) called "The Promise" and the Baikal Lake installment has been pushed back to chapter 29 and so on and so forth. If you are looking for the "new chapter" please see chapter 28. Again, my apologies, and thank you for your time.**

**Windstar: Disclaimer: **I do not own beyblade, all original characters are my own as is the premise of this fanfiction.

**Summary: **The Demolition Boys lost the tournament on purpose, that much the teams of the world knew. Yet what drove them to do so, and why their lives turned out the way that they did, that was something that only they themselves knew. A companion and coworker offers the teams of the world the unique opportunity to view just what it was that caused the Demolition Boys to become the people that they are now, and just what pushed them to make the ultimate sacrifices at the end of the line. What made them...a family.

The All Starz, White Tigers, and the Bladebreakers were furious. They sat in Tyson's suite at the hotel (with the Majestics), furious and angry. Now that the World Championship was over, and the events at the lake, they were lost confused, and understandably _pissed off_. None more so then Tyson.

The Japanese boy was pacing back and forth, his fists clenched and his eyes dark with hate and annoyance. Who did Mr. Dickenson think he was, telling him that Tala had thrown the match with him? How dare he suggest that all that effort was meaningless because Tala was more powerful and that if he'd wanted to, he would have destroyed him?

It was raining heavily outside, the temperature had spiked after the match, and now freezing rain was assailing the streets of Russia. The teams were angry and annoyed. Kai had thrown them all for a loop. Not only was he this great mastermind beyblader that had more skill then anyone cared to think about, but he was also a phenomenal actor. No one had seen through his disguise. No one had seen through anything.

"How dare he?" Tyson screamed, punching the wall in front of him. The other teams flinched at the noise, but didn't say anything. They were all lost deep in thought.

_Kai stepped out of the building, his hair whipping out around him. For the first time in a long while he was feeling peaceful. Like a great load had been lifted off his shoulders. Tyson ran up behind him, his face plastered with that annoying smile of his, his hands swinging wildly. Kai allowed the hug that was coming, he knew he couldn't avoid it anyway._

_He glanced back at the Bladebreakers. The team he had used time and time again. He had done it for a good cause, but nevertheless he had done it. He knew the other teams were still angry at him, but he also knew that they would understand in time (and if they didn't then it was no skin off his back. He didn't care anyway)._

_They were going to head back to the hotel; that was all that was left. After that the award ceremony…but with the police heading over to arrest Boris at that particular moment he doubted the ceremony would take place for a few days. He couldn't help but let the mask fade just enough to let out a pleasant smile. Everything had worked out perfectly._

_Tala had lost as planned, he had lost as planned, Bryan had lost…but not quite as planned, and the Bladebreakers had won. It was as simple as that. When the Demolition Boys walked back down the hall to their locker rooms the Police would be there. They would make sure that they left the arena safely, and that one Boris Balkov was not with them. Kai had seen the wink that the red head had sent his way as he walked down the hall. For the first time in years they were free. For the first time in years, Kai was actually considering changing his name._

_He could already see the smile on _Luka's_ face when he'd tell him about the change. He'd grin wildly, probably throw his arms around him, call him that name that had been taboo for years, and then welcome him back into the family. The others would be notably excited too…he'd make a dinner out of it. Voltaire was, of course, invited as well. The man had been there when he discarded the name…now he'd be there when he reinstated it._

_Kai looked up at the snow that was falling above him. He heard his team pause in confusion. There wasn't any snow anywhere else, just…above _him._ He frowned and stepped to the left. The snow hesitated, but then followed him. He glanced up, but there was nothing there. Just…snow. He looked back at his teammates. They looked equally perplexed, but a memory struck him right then and he laughed slightly, ignoring the stunned looks on the new champions' faces. He looked around, and caught sight of the boy who was occupying his thoughts recently._

_Red hair was tied back into a ponytail at the base of his neck; and a long white coat was over a dark blue shirt and jeans. He was smiling, care free and ecstatic, and Kai looked up at the snow that was above him. He laughed. He couldn't help himself. Across the street was a boy who had finally earned his freedom after a lifetime of imprisonment. Above him was snow that was impossible and yet magical at the same time, and behind him were four stunned boys who couldn't believe what they were seeing._

_Kai was actually laughing. Not the crazy, maniacal, laugh of the creep who had attacked them so ruthlessly, but the laugh of a truly happy boy who had nothing but happiness coming to him. He looked across the street. The red head was laughing too. He was giggling with delight, and above him was snow as well. Donned in those clothes that were brand new and a smile that could go on for miles, the other boy spun in a circle, glee echoing off every part of his body._

"_How does it feel, Luka?" Kai called over, taking a step towards the street. His teammates watched in confusion as the snow followed him. They still couldn't understand it. The red head looked up, blue eyes shining with love and a light that could not be diminished._

"_It feels-" Screeching tires cut the scene abruptly. The snow stopped; the blade that had been dancing in the middle of the street – completely run over. Horror crossed the boys' faces. The red head looked at the car that was going straight towards him. He didn't have time to get out of the way, the pedal was pressed down._

"_LUKA!" The boy just managed to meet Kai's gaze before the car prepared itself to impact itself with the teenager who had been dancing with joy not two minutes ago._

The rain was pouring ever harder now, and Tyson was still pacing. He glared at the storm as if it was the cause of all of his problems, and he kept clenching his fists. Everything had been perfect until Mr. Dickenson had told them all of that. They had wanted to know one thing, and they'd been given more then they'd bargained for.

Tala had thrown the match. He'd thrown the God-dammed match and now Tyson was a winner with a victory he didn't deserve. He was furious. He was hateful, and he couldn't believe that he'd been tricked. He spun about, taking in all of Rei's injuries. The boy looked worse for wear and he didn't like that either.

Rei was beaten for nothing. He was hurt for no reason. That was something that Tyson could never forgive. How dare Bryan hurt Rei for the sole purpose of hurting him? How dare he? Tyson couldn't believe that that was happening. He couldn't do it. He could not wrap his head around that in the slightest.

"This isn't fair!" He shouted to no one.

"Life isn't fair." Rei replied just as easily. How was it that he could be so calm about all of this when Tyson was over there fuming with rage? That wasn't fair either.

"Kai tricked us!"

"Yes he did, but he did save the world…"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"You heard what Mr. Dickenson said…Kai and the rest of those boys are all members of the International Security Agency Beyblading Division. …they were on a mission, and they fulfilled it." Kenny mumbled, though it was clear that he wasn't as thrilled with the situation either.

"I don't care, and who ever heard of this ISABD thing anyway?" Tyson snapped angrily, he didn't want to deal with Kenny and his annoying logic.

"Russia isn't even apart of the ISA…I bet that it's all fake." Emily muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. In her hand was her bit-chip. It hadn't left her grasp since her bitbeast returned to her.

"Exactly!"

"In times of emergency sometimes special measures are taken to ensure the greater good of the World's health…saving the world probably let them bend the rules a little, and I'm sure the ISABD is in association with the BBA and it's SS…"

"I'm sick of these acronyms! Who cares if the BBA has a secret service!" Tyson was pissed off, and talking to him was getting no where.

"Well we should since Kai was a member of _that _too!"

"He's probably a member of the country club in every nation as well." It was muttered, but it still got a reply.

"Only in London and Beijing, maybe in Tokyo but I don't remember filling out the paperwork on that one." All eyes turned to the window sill and stared in shock at the person that was standing there, dripping water on the carpet.

_Everything happened very quickly. The so called, Luka, jumped higher then a normal person would even think about jumping, and landed gracefully on the roof of the car that had so purposefully attempted to crush him. He winced as a bulled shot up through the roof and nearly took off his foot. Rolling to the side he fell from the car and quickly attempted to scuttle across the street to some form of safety in the Arena (or with Kai, either one would work)._

_He didn't make it though, the car slammed backwards and he had to twirl to the side to avoid another attempted collision. Adrenaline seeped into his blood and he turned and ran. Behind him the car followed, eager to kill its victim, and ignorant to the fact that a very pissed off teen was in close pursuit._

_Kai was running as fast as he could, his eyes locked on the red locks that were slowly escaping in front of him. If there was one thing he cursed above all else, it was that _damn _Luka could run. He shot forward, pushing himself past all former limits and attempting to keep up with the boy. The car was swerving every now and then onto the sidewalk, trying to run him over or shoot him. Either would work, but the boy was every vigilant. He kept near the store walls and the alley ways. He kept near places that he could duck and hide behind. He would not be caught without a fight._

"_Kai! Wait up!" He ignored that. Tyson would not be getting him to slow down when there was a madman chasing after his brother. It had been a long time since he'd called him that, but that was what he was. His brother; and he wouldn't let something happen to the red head now that he'd finally been free._

_He heard another screeching of tires, and he looked to his left. There was a car right next to him, the window rolled down. Bryan. He'd never been so happy to see him before. Ian was in the passenger seat; and Spencer was in the back._

"_Get in!" Bryan shouted urgently. Kai nodded but went to the falcon blader's door anyway._

"_You get out." He snapped, Bryan moved over to the passenger seat, sending Ian flying into the back seat. Kai got behind the wheel and he barely registered hearing the door open to admit another passenger before he was flying through the streets and after the car that was chasing down his friend._

"_Woah, Kai you can drive?" He blanched. Fucking Tyson. Glowering, but with no time to stop, Kai hit the accelerator and shifted into gear, he needed to hurry._

"_If not then you sure picked the wrong car to jump into." Stop everything. Did Bryan actually make a joke? Alert the media. Tyson had been stunned into silence. He seemed to just notice who else was in the car. Oops._

_Things weren't looking good for Luka though. He was rushing at warp speed and he was running out of street. They, unfortunately, were not running out of bullets. He hissed as one caught his brand new coat that he'd been given as the first present for freedom. He almost felt a tear welling, but now wasn't the time to cry. Now was the time to find a place to run into and hide._

_He ran out of road though, and soon his sidewalk melted into gravel. He knew of only one place that would be good enough for his chances of escape. A lake…big and hopefully frozen.. Big enough though and marked enough to let the drivers of cars know that at any moment they could be found under water if they thought to drive on it. He smirked, perfect._

_Running as fast as he could, he ducked into trees and through the trails that lead to the lake. He could just hear the damn car following as best it could. The trail was big enough for the car God damn it._

_He hurried onwards though, running faster and faster until the lake came into focus. He smirked and stepped onto the ice, rushing with an ease that took years to accomplish he made it half way, satisfied to say the least when the car came to an abrupt stop. He kept going though, he kept going because the bullets were still a threat, and he didn't doubt their accuracy at all._

_Kai spun the car's wheel and lost sight of Luka minutes after the red head had made a sharp right down the street. Kai made a left. Tyson screamed and told him he was going the wrong way, but Spencer just told him to shut up. The Japanese boy nodded, still intimidated by his company. That didn't stop him though from losing his stupor and start screaming in horror with each narrowly missed car and bump they came up to. Bryan even cursed and slammed his hand on the dash with one particularly violent bump._

"_Damn you Hiwatari you finally get you're fucking Corvette and you're breaking it in the same night!"_

"_I'm giving you the ride you wanted aren't I? Now shut up!" Kai snapped back furiously and Tyson frowned in confusion. He still couldn't figure out what was going on, but was it just him, or were the Demolition Boys actually being slightly humorous? At least Bryan was, and it was a dry humor that sent shivers up Tyson's spine. He still didn't like it._

_They came out on the opposite side of the lake that the hunters were on. Luka was nearing the center and still trotting dutifully towards them. Kai got out of the car, his hand slipping into the jacket of his coat and pulling out what looked suspiciously like a…_gun_? Tyson's eyes bulged. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Glancing back he caught sight of a second and third car…make that a Jeeps…coming up behind them. The other Bladebreakers had hitched a ride and had followed them. An unknown man and Mr. Dickenson were in the front seat of the first truck, Max sitting in the bench between , Rei and…was that Lee?...were in the bed. Judy was driving the third vehicle; and that meant All Starz were present…and Mariah, Kevin, and Gary were piled up in the beds as well._

_All eyes shifted to the commotion on the lake though. Luka was still running for his life, and Kai was running towards him, brandishing that gun as though he were a pro. He took a shot, and suddenly there was a shout at the other end of the lake. Leave it to these guys to actually drive their car through the Moskva Park and towards Moskva's lake. Bryan came up to his right, Spencer to his left, each one returning the fire on their friend's attacker._

_Luka hissed angrily though, when one bullet cut dangerously close to his head and he snapped for them to mind their shots. Kai stopped instantly and continued his trek towards him. Suddenly though the car sped to life and dared to cross the lake. It wanted to get Luka before Kai managed to get to him, and on such open terrain it was obvious that it'd only be a few moments until they managed it._

_Spencer growled low in Russian and he aimed at the front tire of the vehicle. Pow! It was out, it skid, spinning because the driver was too shocked to do something else. Then a crack filled the air. Luka stopped short. Kai was motionless, and all the onlookers held their breaths._

_To close. Luka was to close to the car. He dared to look down and see the crack that was spiderwebbing underneath him. He gulped back his fear and apparent distaste of the situation, and gingerly took a step forward. Creak! He looked up at Kai. Not to far away, and safe from the cracks that were forming all around him. The others were slowly backing off the ice, leaving Kai to play the rescuer. It would help no one if the five of them all went under._

"_Run Luka…I'll catch you if you fall." Kai murmured softly. The red head nodded, and ran full speed across the cracks, trying to calculate his steps as ice started shooting up from the pressure being pressed against it._

"_Hey wait…is that Tala?" Tyson gasped, and in that one moment, distracted from his concentration, Luka looked up. A bullet from the last gunman still awake tore through his stomach. Kai screamed in horror as he watched the redhead stumble. Blue eyes met Kai's gaze one last time, and the ice beneath him broke, sending him to what should have been a watery death._

No one could believe it. The brunette girl from the hospital was standing before them, her hair tangled and knotty, but still in that stubborn pony tail. She looked like she was shivering in the cold' and Tyson felt a dash of sympathy towards her before he remembered just whose side she was on. Definitely not theirs. He glared at her. She smiled prettily back before looking around at all the stunned and confused faces in the room.

"Hello, my name is Anna Jones. It's nice to meet you." She said simply, dipping her head and motioning to them all. A few of the more reasonable and thoughtful members of the group returned their startled greetings and she smiled appreciatively at them.

Looking at Tyson, who had barely moved a muscle, and certainly not to say hello, she smiled politely. He glared back. Her hands reached back to her backpack and she took a deep breath as she removed it from her back. She didn't even ask if it was alright. She just did as she pleased, and everyone was still to stunned trying to understand how she managed to appear at the window to stop her.

Kevin even looked and examined the ledge. There was no sign of what she'd done. Only that she'd done it. Confusing…and certainly annoying to say the least. He didn't understand what had happened, and that bugged him. He looked at her expectantly but she kept on removing papers and folders from her back and placing them on the coffee table. Tyson though had had enough. He glowered and stalked towards her. Furious and wanting to get his way, he gripped her roughly by the arm.

"I'm sorry, but can I_ help_ you?" She twisted her arm out of his wrist and flicked his hand away without even a bat of the eye. Lee noted that instantly. She was well trained in martial arts. From the ISABD? He wanted to know…

"No actually you can't." She said simply, shrugging as though it were obvious. Tyson frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"_You_ can't help _me_, but I was hoping I could help you." Each word was spoken slowly, as though being said to someone particularly slow. Clearly that's what she thought of him though, because she went back to ignoring them all and removing papers and folders from her back until she'd been satisfied.

"As I said: my name is Anna Jones. Sometimes Dama Anya…but please call me Anna. I work for the ISABD, the BBASS, and, of course, Voltaire Hiwatari." Everyone stiffened at the mention of the name, but she went on regardless. "I've come to you today of my own violation, and I hope that you will listen to what I have to say before you conclude your thoughts on the events that have transpired over the past few months, in particular the events that preceded and occurred during the shoot out on Frost Lake. The World Tournament is of course one of the most important I believe to you all?" She was well spoken, but then again, the fluency in English was something they'd all noticed. Her voice carried no accent. American born then perhaps? There wasn't even a hint of Russian in her words. Rei nodded though and offered her a seat. She thanked him kindly but told him it would be unnecessary. She would be leaving soon.

_Kai moved so fast that by the time Dranzer was already out of her blade and burning away at the ice, the others were still trying to figure out when he'd readied and launched his blade. It didn't take long to burn through, not with Dranzer's spectacular heat. The ice was melted and Luka was seen gasping for breath in the water beneath her._

_He reached a hand up and gripped her talon, coughing feebly for air as she flew him to her ward's side. Kai took Luka in his arms and whispered a quiet 'Thank God' when he got there. Pale arms encircled Kai's neck, even as blood stained the white coat he'd been wearing those arms hugged his brother. Kai cursed softly and swiftly picked the teen up before dashing back to the corvette and the two jeeps that had brought all the witnesses forward._

"_Bryan I need you to put pressure on the wound, there's an exit…Spencer I need you to give me coordinates to the nearest hospital, Ian get the med kit and help Bryan in the backseat. See if you can try to seal that wound until we get him to a doctor." Luka was mumbling incoherencies even as Kai barked orders. The Russians leapt into action, ignoring the strange looks they were getting. "Get those damn trucks out of my way _now_!" Kai snapped as he noticed the corvette's path blocked by the onlookers. Instantly the drivers nodded and started to peel away, much to their passenger's dismay. Tyson yelped and rushed to jump onto one, clearly realizing he had no place in the sports car._

_For the first time, Kai was happy that he'd been promised two of them, because he knew the first one was trashed. Blood stained the back seat; sticks and stones and pillars had taken a beating out of its rim and paint job. By the time it reached the hospital, the car was smoking from the engine and clearly not a happy camper. It didn't matter though. He slid out of the driver's seat and focused solely on getting Luka the help he so desperately needed._

_As the nurses were situating the teen on a stretcher though, the doors opened and someone called his name. He expected one of the teams that had followed them to the hospital, but he hadn't expected the young brunette standing shell shocked in the doorway. He looked up at her and froze. In her hand were the demolished pieces of Wolborg, the bit-chip glowing in her palm. She had tears in her eyes._

"_Kai?" She asked shakily. The other teams were staring at her in confusion. He glanced over to the stretcher and she screamed, running forward. "Luka?" He caught her around the waist, spinning her around and pulling her to his chest – successfully trapping her there. She wrenched, trying to pull over and go to the red head's side, but the teen was already being taken away and into the ER. "Luka!"_

"_Shh Anya everything's going to be alright. We got here in time." She looked up at him, eyes wide with fear and he pressed her head to his shoulder in the most caring action anyone had seen him do yet. He shushed her and just held her as she cried harder and harder into his shoulder. He completely ignored the looks he was getting. Now was not the time._

"_What-happened?" She gasped, looking up at him. He sighed and brought her to some chairs to sit down and then slowly started to explain everything to her._

_Meanwhile though, Tyson looked over to Mr. Dickenson and the strange man that was with him. He wanted to know what was happening too. Why did Kai have a gun? Why was Tala being called Luka? Why was Luka being shot at…and who was the teary girl?_

"_Her name is Anna, she…works with the Demolition Boys and Kai on occasion." Stanley replied. Tyson hadn't even known the question had been asked, though it brought another question to mind._

"_How are _those _two connected?" He didn't get it. Kai had only been on the Demolition Boys' team for a few days, but the way he held her made it look like he'd known her for years. "They're the enemy!" The others nodded in agreement. From across the waiting room, Bryan's eyes narrowed slightly at them and he elbowed Spencer in the ribs, motioning with his chin to listen to what the man had to say._

"_Now my boy, those boys are hardly the enemy. In fact, you owe all five of them a great debt of gratitude." The voice was stern, and it was clear that the man meant it. Ian smirked._

"_What? What are you talking about? What would I possibly owe them!"_

"_Hold on Mr. D…five?" Rei cut in. There were only four Demolition Boys._

"_Well…yes...Kai is included in that number." The man said almost sheepishly._

"_Why do you keep grouping him with them! They're the enemy and he left!"_

"_Now Tyson! Not another word. Those boys have risked much more then you could possibly know on what occurred here today, and it is because of you our life style is the way that it is right now and always will be."_

"_What are you talking about!"_

"_Well for one, you wouldn't be a World Champion right now if it wasn't for them." The unknown man next to Mr. Dickenson snorted his voice rough and gravely._

"_Why Christopher-"_

"_Tell them the truth Stanley, their whining is giving me a headache and I'm only here because of Red." He motioned towards where the boy had vanished into the ER._

"_Tell us what?" Max asked curiously, trying to understand what was going on. All the other teams leaned in too. They wanted to figure this out as well._

"_Well…this year the BeyBlading Tournament was a bit…rigged." All eyes widened in shock and horror. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. RIGGED? "You see…if Bio-Volt had one another year of this…as you all have heard…they would have taken the world by storm. They were planning to attack every country and nation, taking it over and controlling it with the powers of Black Dranzer and their other bitbeasts. To prevent that, the Demolition Boys, and Kai, were involved in project Freefall. They were inducted into the ISA's BeyBlading Division and the BBA's secret service…and with the help of Anna and a few other people they managed to bring Boris's plan for all scale war and chaos to a screeching halt." Twelve people stared up at him in shock and the man went on. "For the price of one world championship title, the Demolition Boys effectively not only saved the world but also gained their freedom from the Abbey. The four of them are free to go wherever they like now and can live the lives they choose." There was silence…before the explosion occurred._

Seemingly finished with her preparations she let out a sigh and looked around at the faces of all the beybladers that surrounded them. She smiled politely at them, but again they were too stunned to really have much of a response towards her. It didn't appear to bother her.

"I came here today, because I truly believe that the events that have transpired recently that affected you and everyone else that participated in some way shape or form at the tournament, were not really fully explained to you. Perhaps if it was, you could look at those boys not with anger or disdain, but with appreciation. I know that Kai especially was hurt by the words that you spoke at the hospital."

"Really, because it didn't seem like that." Tyson snapped.

"Oh honestly Mr. Granger, you've spent enough time with Kai to have realized that he never speaks what he thinks and he's terribly self conscious about his emotions." He actually laughed at that.

"_Kai_, _self conscious_? Where do you come up with that lady! Kai is the most cold and emotionless person I know. He doesn't have real human qualities, and he's certainly not self conscious!"

She turned and glared at him, her eyes dark and menacing. The others in the room shifted awkwardly as she approached Tyson, anger clearly marked on her face. Her hands were fists and her features were menacing.

"I came all this way for one reason and one reason only. To try to get you people to see the truth as to what exactly took place at the tournament. Now, if you aren't interested in hearing, and you're too busy insulting one of my dearest companions then you can just step outside and continue being the arrogant egotistical and immature prat that you seem to be inside and out. If you're actually interested in trying to understand why they threw the tournament then you can get off your high horse and zip it, because the next words that come out of your mouth had better be in the form of polite statements or questions and not snide remarks. I will throw you from this room if that's what it takes to at least explain the story to those who _are _willing to listen. Understood?"

Tyson nodded. He really couldn't do much else. The girl wasn't going to listen to him if he didn't anyway. She glared pointedly in his direction and then continued on with what she was doing in the first place. Turning back to the rest of the room she went on.

"Kai lied to you all; and with good reason. I'll try to set up the scene as much as possible, if you'd listen to me?" There were a few nods. "Tala Ivanov, or rather, Luka Ivanov, is Kai's brother."

"_What_?" They couldn't believe their ears. The whole room erupted into questions. None of them understood what they were saying. Finally someone shouted "They have different last names!"

"Not really. Kai's surname is that of his mother's maiden name, whereas Luka's surname is that of their father's surname. Kai isn't actually his real name at all. Kai's real name is Sacha Ivanov, but that name quickly became taboo after Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov unfortunately died."

"Sasha?" Tyson laughed. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"Not _Sasha_ you fool, _Sa-_ch_-a_." She rolled her eyes. "It means protector of men if you _must_ know. It doesn't really matter nobody calls him that except for Luka and that's only on rare occasions. Luka and Kai were both raised in the abbey, as of course I believe Boris informed you. Kai was born there, and Luka came several years later. While they were there, they experienced several…terrible…disasters." She reached out and opened one of the folders, handing some photos to random people throughout the room. They gasped, not quite believing what they were seeing. "Whippings were common; beatings in general even more so. They, just like the three other Demolition Boys who arrived not to long after Luka did, were treated the worst for they were expected to be the best."

One photo was a picture of Kai, probably no older then six or seven. He was looking up at the camera with dead red eyes. His face spotted and blotched with bruises. His shoulders had cuts on them, and his chest was almost blood red with internal bleeding. His back though was the worst. There were dozens of deep whip marks. He had been beaten so soundly that all the life appeared to have left him.

On the next page was Tala. His right arm was destroyed. There were hundreds of cuts running up and down it. It was bleeding profusely, and the boy himself was unconscious. Doctors could be seen trying to pull glass from it. It looked like he'd been through a shredder. It was horrifying. Even Tyson couldn't come up with a witty comment about this. There was nothing good to say. Nothing good at all.

"Each day they were trained within an inch of their lives. They were forced to work harder then any other student in the Abbey, and if there was even the slightest chance for failure they were horribly beaten by the guards and Boris. Luka and Kai had managed to almost get taken out of the Abbey for good when their parents discovered what was happening there…but they were forced to crash and were both murdered, and in the end that was exactly where the two ended up spending the majority of their lives."

Stunned into silence the teams couldn't believe what they were hearing. That Kai had a brother, and that their parents were murdered, that they were sent to live in the Abbey after that traumatic event only to have their lives be constant horrors be done to them…it was something out of a nightmare.

"The Demolition Boys and Kai were slowly yet surely all contacted by the ISABD, and the BBASS. For the last six years those boys have done nothing except willingly place themselves beneath Boris's whip and offer themselves up as sacrifices for the sole purpose of gathering information the ISABD could use. Kai was probably the one that got off the hook the most because after a rather bad…accident…he lost a number of his memories and had been removed from the Abbey for good. Everyone was working together for six years to stop Boris, and this world championship was just the thing they needed to gain their freedom…I don't expect you to listen to me and believe me. So I've brought those files that you can look over. They're all photocopies obviously; I wouldn't bring you the originals…but this is a copy of several hundred surveillance tapes from all over the world." She lifted up a DVD from the piles. Smiling ever so slightly at them she motioned to it. "It's been compiled into working orders, starting off at the boys entry into the Abbey, and even continuing on until the end of the Tournament. If you watch it…it's several hours long…I believe you may have a different opinion about the whole situation."

She handed it to Rei, who she seemed to think was the most trustworthy person of them all, and smiled at them. Then with a mumbled goodbye, moved back to the window.

"What are you doing?" Michael shouted in horror.

"Oh, this is faster, that's all." And with that she tipped herself over the balcony ledge and disappeared from view. Confused and trying to understand what had happened, Rei moved to the TV and placed the DVD into the recorder. Taking a deep breath. He pressed play.


	2. Many Meetings

**Windstar: **Chapter One is how up, (last chapter being the prologue) Thank you to the three people who reviewed, Night-Chan, TakerufallenHope-Angel, and The Cattan-Wolf. I really appreciated it. This story will not contain character deaths, being as it all takes place in the past and it's hard to kill someone who shows up later hm? However, I reserve the right to kill any original characters. Also, to clear somethings up, Anna will _not_ be a Mary Sue. I hate those as much as the next person, and I can promise you she will not turn into one of those characters that can do it all and with that 'oh so perky' attitude as well.

Once more,  
**disclaimer: **I do not own beyblade, and all the OCs belong to me.

Please enjoy!

**Chapter One: **

The video started and with it came the date. November Fifth of fourteen years ago. The camera was aimed at a young boy, slate bangs, and a darker color to the rest of his hair, it was obviously Kai. He was wearing a light sweater and brown pants, but he was shivering despite the clothes. No socks or shoes were on his feet, and he was curled up in the corner of the dark and dank looking room.

Bars made up the most part of one wall, and dark slabs of stone made up the ceiling, floor, and other three walls. It looked more like a prison or a dungeon then a room, and to the onlookers it looked like someone had imprisoned the little boy in that room with the intent to never let him out again.

He was humming something tuneless; his hands were fumbling with something and he nodded his head ever so slightly in time with the beat that only he could really know of. His wide eyes were focused on whatever was in his hands, but they strayed every so often and danced around as though they were trying to find some sort of entertainment from the room. He clearly couldn't find anything that looked amenable. The door opened at the end of the hall and he jumped slightly, looking towards it in expectation. Guards were coming towards them, and he tried to see what was going on.

"Mama?" He asked softly, eyes looking out of his cell hopefully. The bars started to slide open to allow the guards to enter, and he moved closer. Something flew towards him though, and he yelped- jumping back and rushing back to his corner, brandishing the now visible beyblade like a shield and its launcher like a sword. The bars and door slammed closed before he had a chance to react and he glanced passed his raised hands to look at the thing that was now in his cell.

It was motionless and in a heap, and he licked his lips as he tried to figure out what to do. One step forward and then another, he clutched the blue beyblade in his hands, Dranzer shining on its bit. He awkwardly walked towards the heap, trying to make out what it was. Then it shifted. Yelping again, he raised his hands up and once more the two _toys _were used as his defense force.

"Ow…" the thing was speaking now. Kai stepped forward and knelt down- crawling the rest of the way. He looked at the thing and realized what he'd assumed to be junk before was actually a person; a little boy just like him.

"Are you my pres-ent?" Subtitles appeared on the bottom of the TV at that. The words were spoken in Russian, and they were there as an assist. The little boy looked up at him and tilted his head to one side, then brought himself up to his knees and shrugged. He didn't know. "Mama said that she'd bring me a pressie."

Surprised blue eyes stared up at him in confusion. The boy was now growing more and more visible. Short red hair that fell into his eyes and pale skin made up this new comer. It was a toddler version of Tala, and the girls in the room watching the tape cooed at the sight. Even some of the others had to admit, Tala was rather cute as a child. Kai was as well.

The boy's eyes filled with tears and he looked around. He didn't know where he was, and he was starting to get more and more frightened. Kai frowned and tapped the boy on the forehead. The child jumped nearly three feet in the air and scurried away, hiding as best he could in the corner.

He was crying quietly, and Kai didn't know what to make of him. He moved forward again, successfully trapping the boy right where he was, and making sure that he couldn't flee anywhere. The child was crying harder and harder now, wailing this strange and eerie howl with each passing second.

"Stowp dat!" The slate haired child hissed, putting his hands over his ears. "Stowp dat sound!" The boy kept on screaming though. Screaming louder and louder, and Kai started to shout back for him to be quiet. Finally though the future Bladebreaker had enough and he slapped the other child as hard as he could across the face. The howling stopped on a dime, and the child reached a shaking hand up to touch his cheek. Tears still welling in his eyes. "What's your name?!" The boy shook his head, crying harder now.

"Waw-oo, Waw-oo, Waw-oo …" The boy curled into a tight little ball, crying more and more now, his dirty little hands rubbing the tears from his eyes and getting even messier looking. Frustrated, Kai hit him again, trying to get him to be quiet. It worked. The child glanced up at him.

"I'm Sacha!" The boy put a hand to his chest. Then he pointed straight at the redhead. "You are…?" The child tilted his head to one side. He didn't answer, and the tears kept falling, but Kai had managed to capture his attention. Once more the boy repeated the action. He pointed to himself: "Sacha." Then to the red head. "You?" The child's blue eyes closed half way. He didn't appear to understand at all. He put a hand to his chest.

"Saaa-ch-aa?" He sounded the name out. Then pointed to Kai. "Yuh-uuuuu?"

"No!" Kai stamped his foot, and the red head flinched, ducking back into his ball. Irritated, the slate haired boy pulled the child from his formation, and set him back down on his bum. "_I _am Sacha." Again, a point to himself, then a point to the other. "You…?"

"Saaa-cha." This time the boy pointed at Kai, and earned a smile. He pointed at himself. "Yuh-u?"

"No…what's your name?" All the words only seemed to confuse the boy more. He stared at Kai's mouth, not quite knowing what was going on. Kai repeated himself. The child's head tilted to the side, eyes locked on the boy's mouth and hand motions. "Is it Waw-oo?" A word he finally recognized the boy jumped up, looking around as though trying to find something. Kai moved quickly, standing up and trying to find whatever it was that was causing his roommate to act so strangely.

"Waw-oo?" The boy was glancing around fervertively, and eventually tears came to his eyes again. He let out a howling cry and Kai slapped the child instantly, clearly realizing that was the way to keep the boy from making that terrible sound. The howls stopped, and the boy cupped his cheek.

"Bad!" Kai snapped, pointing straight at the child. The boy reeled back, tilting his head to one side as though trying to understand what it was that the other was trying to get him to do. "Dat's bad!"

The red head seemed puzzeled, and made that howling sound again, almost like a dog or a wolf's cry it sang through the room. Kai made to slap him but the boy threw an arm up and blocked it.

"Bad!" Kai shouted, the howl stopped. The two met each others gaze. The red head may not know what the other was saying, but that didn't mean he was useless. He bared his baby teeth, and Kai did the same, neither backing down from each other's gaze. Finally though the redhead plopped onto the ground, and crossed his arms. Closing his eyes and looking away. "Whaz your name?!" He didn't answer. Instead he completely ignored the other child. Getting angrier and angrier Kai kicked the boy with all his might.

The affect was immediate. The red head spun about and lunged for Kai's throat, Kai caught him though and the both went tumbling to the floor. They kicked and scratched and yelled and screamed. The redhead making that horrible howling noise while Kai bit back in angry Russian. They gnashed at each other's skin and the punched and kicked and scrapped until they were completely exhausted.

The onlookers could hardly believe what they were seeing. The two boys had gone all out at each other and they were clearly not happy with each other in the slightest. The redhead lay on his side taking deep breaths while Kai was sprawled on his back coughing every so often. Blue eyes glanced over to him, and suddenly the boy had erupted into a hacking coughing fit.

Fear lit up in those blue orbs and he quickly moved over to him, scared and trying to understand what was going on. He nudged the boy with his hand, but that did nothing. The coughs slowly were getting more and more frequent, and the blue eyes were sacredly looking around trying to find something to help him with.

"Saa-chaa?" The boy asked, sacredly. Red eyes glanced up at him for a brief moment, begging for help. The red head nodded though, understanding in his eyes, and he looked towards the bars. Quicker then anyone gave him credit, he dashed to them, and slipped between them easily. Then he was running. He ran down the hall and towards the door and threw it open. The whole while calling for "Waw-oo"

A guard saw him and screamed, running towards him and capturing him. The boy didn't seem to notice he was getting yelled at. Instead he kept pointing earnestly towards the cell that he'd come from. "Sacha! Sacha!" He called again and again. The man frowned and started walking towards the cell, and seeing the boy in a hacking coughing fit laying there, he flew inside and picked him up too.

Both boys were deposited into the medical wing and Kai's breathing slowly eased to a passable state. He looked over at the little redhead who had saved his life and he mumbled a thank you, and the boy nodded.

"Why doesn't that boy speak?" One of the doctors asked the guard that brought him in.

"They just found him up in those mountains. Had a wolf near by him that wouldn't let anyone get to him. They think that for a little while at least the kid was left out there and that wolf was taking care of him…all the kid does is howl and make weird noises."

"And the wolf? What happened to it?"

"The guys down in development thought that it'd be the perfect bitbeast for the brat when he gets older. They're downstairs making it right now."

"Amazing…that could bring about one of the strongest connections we've had yet. Their bond should be even stronger then that of blood bonded bit beasts." The doctor was mumbling now and the guard was nodding every once and a while.

Kai looked at the redhead quietly, ignoring the adults with ease. He pointed to him. "Luka." The boy tilted his head to the side. Then Kai pointed to himself. "Sacha." Back to the redhead. "Luka."

Now it was the redhead's turn. He pointed to Kai. "Sacha." Then to himself. "Luka." The slate haired boy nodded happily and stroked the red locks that were dangling in the child's face. The boy leaned into the touch and then climbed up onto the bed next to Kai and the two of them slowly fell asleep.

The screen faded black, and the date appeared. It was the four days later.

Kai was sitting next to the little red head, his hands playing with his beyblade once more. The smaller boy looked over to him, entranced by his movements. He leaned closer and watched as Kai fiddled with it. Awe crossed the boy's eyes, and Kai noticed it too. He was smiling proudly as he fitted the blade into the launcher with practiced ease and he pulled back on the rip-cord.

Jam. Nothing happened. He hadn't pulled it out all the way, and the blade toppled to the floor completely motionless. The newcomer tilted his head to one side. Clearly he didn't understand what could possibly be so special with doing something like that. He glanced up at Kai as though he knew the reason, but Kai was blushing furiously and he reached down and scooped up the blade for another try.

Tyson was laughing hysterically at the sight of Kai not being able to pull the ripcord back all the way. It was truly funny, and a complete rookie mistake. Kevin snapped for him to shut up though, and that everyone did that at least once when they first learned how to beyblade and of course…fourteen years ago Kai would only be two.

The bored child sighed heavily and looked away, not interested any more. He stood up and started to walk over to the bars. His head tilted to one side and he stuck his hand through. Nothing happened. Then he stuck his shoulder through…nothing happened. One foot, half a head…the other half, and he was through. Kai looked up from what he was doing and faltered.

"Luka come back here!" He called as he rushed over to the bars and caught his new roommate by the wrist. He was met with a confused look that clearly showed that the other didn't know why he was called to come back. Either that; or what he'd been called. His head tilted; a common occurrence whenever he didn't understand.

The little boy had left the cell the other day so what was wrong with leaving now? From the looks of it, Kai could even come along too. He glanced down the hall. He wanted to know what else was in this strange place. He'd been brought straight to the room, and then to the medical wing and then back to the room again. There had to be more though.

"You don' know how to bey-blade. You'll get hurt if you go out an' you don' know." The words meant nothing to the redhead who just stared at his mouth without really grasping what was being said to him. Kai sighed though and held up Dranzer, letting the other child look at it. "Beyblade." He said slowly, trying to convey just what the object was. The boy stared at it, and then back at Kai. "Say. Beyblade." Kai moved his hand to his mouth and then made a talking motion with his hand.

"Bay-buh-lay-duh." The boy pointed towards the blue blade, and Kai smiled, reaching out and petting the boy's hair tenderly to let him know he'd done well. The redhead reached out and touched the bitchip and suddenly it glowed red and a little bit of fire shot from it and licked the boy's finger. "OW!!!!!!!" The boy was a siren all of a sudden, screaming and howling and shaking his burnt finger, sticking it into his mouth as tears fell down his face.

Kai grabbed his arm and tugged him roughly back into the cell and into the corner. He pulled the child's finger from his mouth and slammed it on the ground which only got the boy crying even more. The door at the end of the hall opened though and Kai demanded quietly for him to be quiet and to his surprise the red head actually did. The guards appeared at their cell and looked inside.

Both boys sat innocently in the corner and the guards moved on, ignoring them completely. The redhead hissed angrily though and threw his finger back in his mouth, licking the burn and glaring accusatorily at Kai. The other just shrugged, looking down at the blade.

The bit glowed brightly and proudly, and the little one jumped, ducking for cover under his arms. Kai just giggled though, and prodded him lightly to get him to see that everything was alright. "No nye!" The child insisted speaking the first understandable words that Kai must have taught him over the past few days. The bit glowed even more, and he stuck his tongue out at it. She sent another wave of fire towards him and he yelped crawling quickly away.

"Dahn-zer top hurtin my Luka!" Kai snapped, pointing at the blade and expecting it to behave accordingly. The fire arrows stopped on command, but the glow remained. Luka glared at it from behind Kai's back. "She didn' mean ta hurt you. Honest!" Though clearly, the redhead did not agree or understand what was said.

The screen faded black, and another date appeared on it. December twelfth, again it was set for fourteen years ago. Kai and the boy he'd dubbed Luka, were in a training facility of sorts, each one with a beyblade in their hands. The slate haired boy was motioning the redhead who followed them and nodded slowly, starting to pick up what was going on around him. He even replied a few simple words here and there. In there hands were launchers and ripcords and it was clear they were supposed to be practicing pulling them. Every once and a while they were told to stop chit chatting, and get back to work.

"Repeat after me! _Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!_ Then pull your ripcords!" The boys exchanged glances and Kai tried to see if the redhead understood what he was being asked, but the child simply nodded and they did as they were told. Their words were in baby babble but they came out close enough to what they were being instructed to do, and the cords slid in and out in perfect succession.

They should of; they had been practicing all day apparently. Twelve other boys were in the room. They were all different shapes and sizes and most of them different ages. Luka and Kai were clearly the youngest of them all. They stood out because of their small statures and they were easily over powered by the older boys when they said their words.

"Vic-ty is live, de-feats ta our nenemies." They intoned, but the sly smiles they kept sending to each other clearly showed that they thought this was silly. Attention wavering, Luka missed the next cord. His eyes were looking up and up and up. The ceiling just seemingly getting higher and higher until-

"EYES FORWARD YOU INSUFFERABLE MAGGOT!" He yelped when a hand caught the backside of his head, and he went forward onto all fours. Kai whipped around and kicked the attacker straight in the shin. The man yelped and gripped the boy roughly by his neck. Luka looked up at all the chaos, the other boys were to stunned to move, and watched as the guard started to land blows on Kai's head in anger

Furious the redhead shot at the man, sinking his teeth savagely into the attacker's hand and the man shouted in surprise, waving it hand (and therefore Luka) about like it was possessed.

"Don you hurt 'im!" Kai shouted and kicked at the man once more, now being accosted by two toddlers the guard was at a loss, he slammed them together, and instantly the two let go. Kai grabbed Luka's hand and they both shot out of the room faster then anyone thought possible.

"GET THOSE TWO AND BRING THEM TO ME!" The guard hissed furiously, trying to mop up the blood that was slowly seeping from the wound where Luka had bit him with his baby teeth.

It was inevitable that they'd be caught. No toddler would ever be able to out run an adult let alone a swarm of them. They were brought back roughly and painfully to the training center where they were swiftly turned over the guard's knee and spanked harder and harder. Both were crying loudly, screaming with each strike, they were yowling so loudly that one actually tried to cover Luka's mouth to make him shut up, but the boy bit the hand that dared to touch him once more and they never tried it again.

"God damn cannibal!" Kai just glared and pulled his shivering roommate to him, angry and hurting and not understanding what he did wrong. They both were sent to their cell without any supper that night. They stayed there for the rest of the next day with nothing to eat or drink, and it was only on the third day did they even get a little bit of water for them to share between the both of them. This continued on and on until at the end of the week they were roughly dragged from their cell and put back into the training room.

"Repeat after me! _Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!_ Then pull your ripcords!" The guard shouted. This time, they did as they were told and they didn't even bother trying to look away from their task. They clearly had learned their lesson.

The time loop was almost like a fast forward, seconds and hours ticked by, and the date and the clock on the bottom right hand corner moved faster to show how much time was passing between the fight and when they were freed. To those that watched the tape though, they could hardly believe what they were seeing. Two toddlers (one who really couldn't understand all to well the world that was around him) both being manhandled and attacked while being forced to learn a sport they were far too young to even understand. They doubted that the boys even understood what it was they were being asked to repeat.

The next clip was dated for December 24th and it started back in the boys' cell. They were lying down and talking to each other (clearly Luka had learned quite a few words in the month and a half he'd been there), in their hands were their beyblades. It seemed like a constant, no matter where they went in the Abbey, their blades stayed with them.

Luka seemed to prefer just listening to Kai though, he replied every once and a while, but in general he didn't pay much mind to the babble talk. He hummed softly under his breath, and the two were content in their cell. The door opened down the hall, and they sat up, looking towards it.

There was a woman, her long silver hair tied back in a beautiful braid, and her bright eyes shimmering through the dark. Her heels clicked on the stone, and with the flick of her hand the bars to their cell opened, and she stepped inside. She was beautiful, in all sense of the word. Smiling broadly she moved to the two boys, and Kai threw himself at her.

"Mama!" He called, hugging her tightly. Luka frowned, his head tilting in confusion. He didn't know who she was, and he didn't know the word. The woman looked up at him lightly and she smiled.

"Well Sacha! Who's your little friend?" She asked teasingly, and he looked back at the redhead.

"Dis is Luka! I gave him his name cuz he didn' have one! D'ya like it?" He looked up, worried she wouldn't approve of the name he'd gifted the boy. The woman's face was stony all of a sudden, and it looked like she was angry about something, but she bit back the fury and made a small half smile.

"Of course my little ochochonya. How would you and your friend like to come home with me today?" From behind her the guard that had escorted her in started.

"Ma'am, you don't have authorization to take the red-" She stood up, pulling Kai up with her. Her words icy and cold.

"You may ask my father just what authorization I have to take my sons out of here."

"Sons…?"

"Of course, isn't this your brother Sacha?" She looked meaningfully at the slate haired child who nodded.

"Yep!" He nodded enthusiastically.

"Then it's settled." She looked down at the redhead with a beaming smile. Holding out her hand, he took it gingerly, eyes wide as he looked up at her beautiful face. "Well Hello there Luka, lets go home together da?" He stared up with wide eyes and he nodded ever so slowly.

"Ho-muh?" He asked quietly, trying to understand the word. Kai just beamed.

"We'll show you home!" The red head smiled brightly at his roommates' enthusiasm and nodded.

The scene faded, but no new date appeared, and when it came back, it looked like it was a different camera setting too. There was a well lit house that was decorated brightly with dozens of various colors for the holidays. The door opened wide and Kai shot forward like an arrow, laughing and giggling with delight.

Luka had found himself in Kai's mother's arms sound asleep, his head pressed to her shoulder as she carefully brought him inside. She was smiling warmly at her son and her new ward as they walked inside. A man stepped out from the door and he looked at the little boy in the woman's arms with a raised eyebrow.

"And who's this?" He asked as he gingerly took the sleeping boy from her. He looked the child over though, trying to search for something that was or could have been there. Finding nothing he glanced up at his wife.

"Luka…or so says Sacha." The woman replied as she started to remove her snow boots. "Sacha, shoes!" She called out to the boy that was examining the tree. He turned around and caught sight of the man.

"Papa!" He cried and rushed over, hugging the man's legs who patted his head affectionately.

"Hello my boy." He grinned down, then glancing to his wife. "Luka?"

"Sacha's new roommate at the Abbey…" She sighed heavily, but smiled when she looked at her son. "Why don't you go play with the toys in the living room while your papa and I find a place for Luka to sleep hmm?" Kai nodded and scuttled off, but then seemed to think of something before coming back.

"Mama, is dat Santa person you told me 'bout las time gonna bring sometin for Luka too?" He asked quietly, looking over to his sleeping roommate. She nodded though.

"Of course, Santa brings presents for all the good boys."

"Like you brought me Luka?" He asked with a grin. Her smile faltered.

"I brought Luka to you?"

"Yeah! You said you'd bring me a pressie, and then Luka came! He's the best pressie in da whole world!" Kai was smiling brightly, and his mother tried to smile as big right back, but she was meeting her husband's gaze and it was clear that he wasn't nearly as happy as his child was.

"Go and play with your toys sweeting." She whispered, and the child disappeared from view. She looked up at her husband.

The two moved silently for a little while, walking up the stairs that were near the door and down a series of hallways. Through it all, the little boy slept on, oblivious to everything around him. His little hands twitched slightly in his sleep, his grasp on his beyblade lessoning the longer he was lost in the land of dreams.

Kai's mother stared at his hands, watched as they moved over his beyblade even in his sleep, which clenched and unclenched around what should have been just a toy. She was worried about something, and it was clearly written all over her face. They came to a door, and she opened it for her burdened husband who stepped inside and moved towards a car shaped bed that was in the center of the room.

The whole room was designed much like a nursery, the walls painted a pleasant blue, and the floor was a plush carpet that one could sink their feet into. There were toys and little books lined up on all the walls and there were games and boxes to play with, stacked neatly on the floor.

The boy moved slightly when he was placed on the bed, his shirt riding up just enough to show a massive bruise on his back. The woman couldn't control her gasp, her hand going to her mouth while her eyes were glued to the sight of the bruise. The man hissed angrily and slowly pushed the shirt up. Scars lined various parts of the boy's back. Teeth marks from what looked like a dog were on his shoulders, and there were similar bites on his arms.

"What happened to him Aya?" He asked as he glanced back at his wife. She shook her head, she didn't know.

"I just couldn't leave the boy there by himself – not on Christmas. I had to bring him with Sacha…" She stepped forward, moving a strand of red hair from the child's face. "Sacha said that he didn't have a name…that hew was the one who actually named the boy."

"Call your father, see what you can find on him…I suppose I should head down to the store and find something to get him for Christmas?" The child turned suddenly, and knocked into his hand, blue eyes blinked blearily open and looked around him.

He yelped in shock at the man so close to him and he back tracked until he hit the wall. Horrified that Sacha was no where to be found he looked all around him. Fear started to clearly pump into his veins, the adults not sure what to do.

"Luka?" The woman asked reaching forward to touch his arm. He swatted her away, raising his hands up in front of his face. "I'm Sacha's mama remember?" He looked at her, and recognition slowly started to dawn on him. "This is his papa…" The boy's eyes glanced to the man.

"Pa…pa…?" He slowly said the word, trying to say it right. The man nodded infinitesimally, eyes locked on the boy.

"How do you do?" He asked politely to the child. The boy stared at him, watching his mouth move, but didn't reply. Instead he just met his eyes as he tried to work out what it was he was trying to say. He couldn't figure out what was being asked off him. He glanced to the woman, but she wasn't helping.

"Sacha?" He asked quietly, trying to figure out where his companion ran off to.

"He's downstairs. We thought you'd like some rest…you fell asleep on the car ride over." The boy looked at the woman as she spoke. He blinked trying to clear his head, and break down the words. So many he'd never heard before, even more were in places he didn't understand. He looked to the man, then back again. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Sacha?" He asked again, he looked around the room, staring at it for the first time. It looked so different from the rooms in the Abbey that he could hardly believe it. It was so warm in there and it was so inviting. He looked up at the people. They were staring at each other, as though trying to have a private conversation without him.

"What's going on?" The man asked, staring at Aya worriedly. She shrugged.

"I don't know. Sacha said he didn't have a name…maybe he was never truly taught how to speak?" Footsteps sounded behind them, thundering and loud, and the two looked up. There, in all his glory was Voltaire Hiwatari, and in his hand was a giggling and ecstatic Sacha.

"Ah here you all are. I found this little ruffian in the kitchen trying to pilfer some snacks from the tray." He announced broadly, gently swinging the boy out in front of him. Kai laughed loudly, his eyes filled with mirth.

"I didn'! I jus wanted Luka to hav some cookies too! He never had em!" The parents met each-others eyes once more and then looked up at Voltaire. The redhead shot between the adults though and flew straight towards Kai, his head ducking down and gripping the other boy's hand for dear life.

"Grampa dis is Luka!" He announced proudly, ignoring his friend's quiet and very self conscious appearance. The man looked down at the redhead and frowned.

"That's very nice Kai, now…why don't you and your little friend go and try to combat the kitchen's defenses one more time…see if you get caught by those pesky cooks again." The boy nodded and pulled his friend down the hallway with him. Alone at last the parents looked at the man sternly, who looked just as grim.

"Father, who is that boy? He was at your Abbey with Sacha." Aya hissed furiously.

"He's one of the children that were supposed to be born in the abbey." The man sighed heavily, raising a hand up to his face.

"Supposed to be born?!" His son in law hissed furiously.

"Yes…at the last minute, the impregnated woman and her unborn son disappeared. Boris was hunting them down for the past two years, I just got word though that they found the boy in Siberia…a wolf of all things watching over it. The woman was nowhere to be found. They brought the child back to the Abbey, and I suppose he was put in the same room-"

"Cell." His daughter hissed.

"As Kai."

"It's Sacha, father."

"He will always be Kai to me." He snapped back. "As for the boy…I doubt he truly understands much that's happened to him over the past month or so. Boris reports that the child has learned how to speak ever so slightly…but…"

"We're adopting him." Aya said suddenly. Her husband glanced at her, his mouth dropping. Voltaire just raised an eyebrow. "And _we'll_ teach him how to speak." She snapped back as an after thought.

"You go out of your damn way sometimes woman to take in every stray from this side of Moskva to Tokyo." He muttered, rolling his eyes. "Don't you have enough trouble with your seven other little orphans to worry about one more?"

"If you're calling my _children_ little orphans then no, I don't. You know better then most that we're doing quite well for ourselves here." She said simply, stepping forward and planting a kiss on her father's cheek. "Now, are you staying for dinner, or are you going to leave your only family and be a right old Scrooge?" She asked, eyes dancing.

"There's no way I could convince you that that boy is not yours to keep?" He asked even as he turned around to follow his daughter down the hall.

"None what so ever, besides, Sacha would stage a mutiny if you thought about taking his 'present' away from him."

"Oh I'm so scared, a toddler staging a mutiny, what is the world coming to?" Voltaire bit back, rolling his eyes as they walked down the hall.

The screen faded a little, and Mariah took that moment to put it on pause. She looked over to the Bladebreakers who had had the most experience with dealings on Voltaire. They glanced at her and she bit her lip, trying to figure out how to word her question appropriately.

To her, it didn't seem like Voltaire was that bad of a man. Perhaps he had a bit of a high horse, and he seemed to want to call Kai by a different name then his parents, and yet…he was oddly accepting of everything. He accepted his daughter's flip decision to adopt little Luka, and he seemed to be someone that Kai looked up to and trusted. He even seemed like the kindly grandfather type who would sneak money under the table to his grandson (much to the boy's parents' dismay.) All in all…not a bad person. Certainly not someone who was hoping to take over the world with a bitbeast army bent on destruction that would one day genetically alter Tala and murder his own children.

It was Emily though who said it the best. She set the drink she'd been sipping at down on the table, and she folded her hands under her chin. Her fingers interlocked together as she appeared deep in thought. Finally she spoke up.

"What in the world happened to change those people so much…Kai today wouldn't even think about laughing like he does in this, and while I get that Tala…Luka…can't really speak very well, he certainly doesn't act like the emotionless ice cube we see now…That man, Voltaire, he doesn't even appear to be the evil man that we all know and hate too.."

"Yeah I know…but then again, this is fourteen years ago. A lot can happen in fourteen years." Enrique mumbled, though he looked very thoughtful himself. There was only really one way they were going to get their curiosity solved, and that was by continuing to watch the movie.

Still though, it was hard to believe that this movie was actually the truth, and that all the people in it were going to one day be the people who would attempt to take over the world. At the moment there were no delusions of grandeur or even talk in general about attacking the world at large.

They seemed like a happy family, wanting to celebrate Christmas together. The only part that seemed completely and totally evil though, was the Abbey. The sight of the training that the boys had started was ridiculous, especially when they were disciplined by the guards. It was something very few of the bladers in the room could stomach, let alone wish on anyone. Especially not two toddlers who didn't have a clue on what blading really meant and what it was.

It was obvious though how the seeds for their future personas had been planted. The teens that everyone knew today treated beyblading like it was more then a sport, that it was their lives. That it wasn't a game to them. The Demolition Boys in particular acted as though it was something that was completely and totally ruthless and needed to be treated as such.

They bladed like it were a battle field, and why wouldn't they? When one considered that their lives were formed at such a young age to _be _a battle field. They were being taught how to fight and how to attack- they were being trained to be little zombies that listened to whatever it was the guards at the Abbey told them to do.

If their entire lives had been like what they'd just seen, then it was obvious that beyblading couldn't be considered a game to them. It was even more obvious that the game's true value as being just that (a game) was going to be lost on them. They couldn't, after all, understand the fun of the game, if all they were doing was being trained over and over again like it was their job.

The small mentions of the wolf though had been enough to startle everyone in the room. Imagining an infant being thrown into the wild's and much like the story of Romulous and Remus, was suckled by a wolf and cared for by it until they were found, was something out of fairy tales. Things like that didn't just happen in real life.

Wolves are very protective of their young, of any young, but the rarity of that situation was astounding. That Tala had even survived the time it took for humans to find him had been enough to startle the bladers. The colds of Russia would have frozen any normal child solid, and yet he had managed to live by the warmth of the wolf for quite some time. So much time that…from the moment he was conscious enough to actually begin learning speech, to the moment that he was found – he had been completely abandoned by society and only knew of the ways the wolf had taught and exhibited to him.

The bites on the boy's arms and shoulders were clear indications that the boy had been carried at some point by the animal, and that he'd been tugged and pulled at because of it. Still, the boy was alive. Against all odds and improbability, he was alive, and he'd found himself with Kai of all people.

His story was sounding more fantastic then every before, and the others in the room were finding it all hard to believe. Still though, they needed to watch more, and slowly yet surely, Mariah raised the remote she'd grabbed earlier, and clicked play.


	3. The Breath Before

**Windstar: **Thank you to those who reviewed, I truly appreciate your kind words. This chapter is a bit shorter then the last ones, but not by much. I know that things are going to seem out of character in this chapter, but I'm honestly going to tell you that the characters are acting like that for a reason. A lot changes and by the time everything reaches present day it all will be clear. The disclaimer is the same as always, and it will continue to be so for the rest of the story.

**Chapter Two: **

It was Christmas morning and Kai was happier then he'd ever been in his life. Grabbing the still sleepy Luka from his bed, he dragged the redhead down the stairs and into the room where all the presents were laid out for them under the tree. There were seven other children there at well, and it seemed like these were the children Voltaire had been talking about in the earlier clip.

Luka stared at everyone shyly, and hung back to Kai's side, not wanting to move out to far in the unfamiliar territory. He didn't manage to stay like that for long though, a hand patted him on the head, and when he looked up he saw that it was his friend's father. The man smiled down at him sweetly, and he attempted a smile back.

"Merry Christmas Luka." He said as he knelt down in front of his newest ward.

"Muh-erry Ch-riz-tuh-mess?" The boy asked back, trying to sound out the words. The man smiled up at him.

"Do you want to open the first present?" He asked slowly, and the child watched his mouth form the words. He glanced over at Kai who made a series of hand motions and the boy shrugged his answer. "Come here." He reached over and took Luka by the hand and gently led him to the tree. He was stopped though by the sound of jingles and bells that could only be –

"Santa!" One of the other kids shouted loudly as they ran over in surprise and amazement to where the red suited man had appeared.

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" And would you believe it was Voltaire? He was just visible beneath the fake beard and hat and the entire room that was watching the tape was too stunned to believe what they were seeing. Someone actually rewound it and pressed play just to make sure they were seeing right. Yet there it was all the same, Voltaire in a Santa suit smiling jovially to all of the children in the room. He met his son in law's eyes and looked down at the redhead who was so mystified by the sight of the man all dressed up that he couldn't look anywhere else. "And this is the newest of the brood eh? Luka hmm?"

"Y-yes…S-Santa…sir…" The child stuttered in surprise. He wanted to know how the man knew his name…after all, Sacha had just given it to him only a month ago and he was certain this man didn't know him.

"Well have I got a present for you…no where'd I put it…?" Voltaire made a big show of walking proudly into the room and looking around for the present that he apparently had gotten specifically for the red head, and he pulled it out triumphantly. Turning around he pressed the small gift in the boy's palm and grinned. The boy looked at it oddly, trying to figure out what it was, but he made no move to take the wrapping off. After a moment's hesitation, Voltaire knelt in front of the boy and gently showed him how to open the wrapping.

The boy's clumsy and blistered fingers tore awkwardly at the paper, and all the other commotion in the room seemed to fade away for the boy as he and Santa opened the present. The first one he'd ever received in his life. He looked up at the old man's dark eyes every once and a while and was met with a pleasant smile, then the paper was gone, and in his hands was a thick chain which had a locket shaped object connected to it. The boy looked up in confusion, not knowing what the object was or what it was used for.

Voltaire though simply moved the boy's fingers to the side of the locket and pressed down on a button. The locket didn't open, but instead a soft howling sound filled the room. All the other children had gone and started to open their presents, to impatient to wait for Santa, but Luka was entranced with the new found music that was playing. There was a sweet little melody echoing in the back of the howling that was coming from the necklace. Kai leaned over his shoulder and looked at it, his eyes taking in the detail of the locket. It was circle shaped and engraved on it was a wolf's head.

"That's pretty Luka." He said, but Luka wasn't listening, instead he had thrown himself at Voltaire and was hugging him, his hands clutching the little object for dear life as tears started to fall down his face. The man was a little taken aback, but he held the boy back with a tenderness not usually seen from him.

While all the other children opened the rest of their presents, Luka steadfastly seemed to refuse to move from Santa's side. He crawled up on the man's lap when he sat down and he plopped himself there and cuddled into his poofy red jacket. Voltaire, to his credit, didn't move the boy off of him or attempt to get the boy to open any other presents, he just sat there and listened as the child pressed the button on the necklace over and over again and listened to the sound of the locket as it sang in his ear.

Not far away, Kai's parents watched the scene with smiles on their faces. Aya was leaning her head on her husband's arm and she was positively glowing with delight. There were other presents for the boy, but he clearly didn't care. He just held onto the locket and refused to let anyone else touch it or take it away from him.

"He's a sweet child, Niko." She told him, her head leaning on his shoulder.

"Yes, he is…your father seems to even have taken a liking towards him."

"My father's a good man…under that gruff exterior; he's certainly a teddy bear at heart. Just look at how he treats Sacha, the man loves the boy."

"Yes…loves him enough to keep him locked away in the God forsaken Abbey training ruthlessly with that beyblade of his."

It was the first mention that anyone had had of there being intense displeasure with the Abbey coming so confrontationally from the parents. Niko, as Aya had called him, was down right seething with hatred for the place, and it was easy to tell the change in the demeanor of the two adults.

"Niko, now is not the time."

"How long do we have until those boys go back to that place? A day? A week? They'll go back, and their lives go back to training incessantly for no real purpose except to become champion beybladers."

"That's how it is in all sports in Russia. You think skating is any different? There are children taken that can barely walk and they're thrown onto the ice and trained until perfection. That's why we are so proud of our athletes!"

"What those people there do is not for the athletes, where do you think those bruises on the boys came from. Don't start because I know you saw them on Kai too!"

"Oh so now you're calling him Kai!?" She hissed venomously.

"He is when he's in that place. The guards and that demented director over there refuse to call him Sacha and you know it. Those children get beaten or worse when they don't meet the expectations of the Abbey, and all we get are a few snippets of time with our boy. What about Luka? He barely speaks our language, but you hand him a beyblade I'll bet you he could show you how to dismantle it, put it back together, and launch it perfectly."

"I'm not denying that the boys aren't going through a hard training process…nor the fact that we don't get to see them that often. All I'm saying is that it isn't entirely uncommon. I'm going to talk to my father, see if we can get the boys into something that's less rigorous…they are just children after all. The education at the Abbey though…it's one of a kind, and it's the best out there. I'm still investigating all these abuse reports, and if I find something solid, I promise you I will take them out of that place for good."

Niko just sighed, nodding his head, but clearly not really listening.

The screen faded, and when it came back, the boys were back in the Abbey, the year though came up. It was four years later. Luka's hair had grown out some; it dangled to his chin now, but his body and filled out even more then his hair had grown. It was still slender, but it had lost that emaciated quality it had had before. There was still a little bit of baby fat here and there, but in general he was twice as tall as he once was and his arms were even slowly starting to get a bit more muscle on them.

He was standing across from a bey-stadium to Kai, the both of them holding their launchers up. Their stances were perfect and their eyes danced with entertainment. It was dark in the room. The lights were barely on, and the camera that was watching them was just able to pick out their forms and what they were doing.

"3…2…1…let it rip!" They both called out in unison. Their blades shot forward, spinning about the dish with a practiced ease that was phenomenal when one considered their ages. They grinned up at each other and watched as they spun faster and faster, dancing across the dish and attacking each other. They crashed and collided and broke apart.

A dance that seemed only to occur in it's perfection on the bey-stadium floor was opening up. Dranzer slipping and turning with a grace only a phoenix could maintain, and it's silver partner sliding along side it. They came together, turning once more and then broke apart. A quick dash across the dish and then back again.

Over and over again the touch and go process continued, neither gaining any ground, but both having a great amount of fun from their exploits. Their blades collided once more and then broke apart, they crashed again with a greater intensity, and then they slid to the edges of the dish.

Now it was a balancing act. The blades were riding the edge, never once touching the outside floor around them. They raced along the edge, in an attempt to gain room over the other. The silver blade cut short and turned the other way while the blue continued on. If they went this way for much longer they'd collide.

Faster and faster, Tala's rushing to the left while Kai's flew to the right. It would be a matter of luck. The blades would go in opposite directions surely, one flying out of the ring and the other flying into it. It would all depend on where they hit. The two went full speed, but at the last second Tala's cut swiftly towards the inside of the dish, and jumped back on the edge, then raced after Kai's blade which had faltered slightly since it'd expected the hit. Within moments it was clear, Dranzer had been knocked from the dish, and the silver blade had fallen out with it. How it had happened, looked completely planned, but both boys were giggling despite themselves and they collected their blades and walked back.

"You're getting better at this Luka." Kai said, his eyes dancing with joy. Luka giggled and shook his head.

"That; or you're getting worse." There was no longer the stutter in his voice or the uncertain quality of his words. He spoke confidently and easily, and there was little evidence of his late start to language in how he spoke.

"I was only using half my strength." Kai scoffed in that arrogant and self assured way that apparently he'd had all his life. Tala pouted.

"Yeah right, you were using all of your strength without Dranzer helping you that's all."

"Well, she's half my strength little brother." Kai said back, teasingly, as he motioned towards the bit chip. Tala rolled his eyes at the boy's over confidence and stuck his tongue out at what he dubbed the 'very annoying over cooked chicken.' A sharp burst of fire shot out of the blade at Tala's words and went straight towards the boy, who ducked it and growled under his breath. "You know, I don't think she likes to being called an overcooked chicken."

"_I don't think she likes being called an_-" mockery cut short the boy rolled out of the way as another arrow shot towards him. "You could at least not aim it at me!" He hissed.

"Apologize!" The boy commanded.

"Fine. I'm soooo sorry I hurt her feelings." Another arrow shot out, catching the boy's shirt and lighting it aflame. Yelping as the flames started to lick at his flesh the child threw the shirt off of him as fast as lightening, and stomped on it. Kai rushed over and helped him put it out, eyes glancing up worriedly at the smoke detectors, in hopes they wouldn't go off. "You should apologize for letting her light me on fire!" Blue eyes glared over at the other boy who stubbornly refused to do so. "Besides. _I'm _older. Boris said so."

"By a month!" Kai bit back bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest., clearly not happy that it had been brought up

"That's still four weeks!" The other boy giggled, poking the slate haired boy in the arm.

"I'm still more the big brother then you are!"

"How so? You just lit me on fire!" Tala walked over to the dish and placed his blade back in its launcher. Kai did the same. They called off the next round and both released their blades.

"I taught you to talk-"

"Badly, your parents had to tell me that a dog and a hog were not the same thing." The redhead snickered.

"_I _taught you how to blade-"

"The Abbey had nothin to do with it."

"_You_ are the one who runs to me with all your problems."

"Its better then talkin to the wall!"

"You're just being mean now!" Kai snapped back, furiously. Tala just smiled, and motioned as though his point was being made. His blade was thrown from the dish without another second passing, and he frowned.

"Well you don't have to get all moody about it." He muttered as he scooped it back up and walked back to the dish.

There was a loud crack, and the two jumped, Tala looked at Kai who instantly grabbed his blade and hurried towards the door. The boys zoomed as fast as they could towards the exit, but they didn't make it in time before it snapped open and there standing before them was none other then Boris Balkov.

Stuttering apologies at sneaking out after dark the two backed into the room as they stared at the man in mixtures of horror and worry. They looked at each other, clearly expecting some sort of vicious punishment, but to their surprise, the man laughed loudly and patted them each on the head before tuning to talk to the person behind him.

"And here are our prized pupils themselves, training even after hours…and without permission of course." The boys dared to lean around the man to see who was beyond their view, and they yipped with delight.

"Grampa Voltaire!" They called, rushing to him and jumping into his arms. The older man laughed lightly, and hugged them tight before placing them back on the ground where they belonged.

"Hello my boys, and how are you?" he asked looking them over, and noticing that Tala was decidedly topless. "It seems you snuck out of bed without an important piece of clothing Luka." He teased as he poked him in the bare chest.

"It's Sa-Kai's fault!" He almost had called his friend by his real name, but at the Abbey it clearly wasn't allowed. Kai stuck his tongue out at him behind his grandfather's back, but then looked up innocently.

"He was making fun of Dranzer. She didn't like it." He said simply.

"Ah, so she stole his shirt from him eh?"

"More like burnt it off him." Boris hissed back, holding up the remains of the shirt that were lying in the middle of the floor. He was glaring at Kai who instantly shrank back behind his grandfather.

"Well, that's alright, we'll just have to get you a new one now wont we?" Luka grinned up at his grandfather who patted his head.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he leaned closer to the man.

"Taking a bit of a tour; I come by every year or so just to check things out, I don't suppose you boys would like to come with us? I'll take you out for some breakfast later if you'd like."

"Kay!" The two chimed together, each grabbing one of his hands. Boris looked ready to vomit in his mouth, but he refrained from doing so as he forced a smile onto his face. He was clenching his fists though, and he clearly wasn't too happy with the idea of the boys going with them, let alone being taken out by his benefactor.

Never the less he went through everything that he was supposed to do in the room and Voltaire appeared to take mental notes while the boys stood at his side silently. They didn't say a word, just like they'd been trained to do. Instead they occupied themselves y listening to Boris talk and poking each other while the other wasn't looking.

The game continued even down the hallway but a gentle shake on their shoulders told them that their rough housing was getting distracting and they stopped on command. Instead they walked quietly and dutifully by their grandfather's side as they moved through the halls of the Abbey.

There were places that they'd never been before surrounding them, and they were looking at them with wide eyes. Every room that they'd never seen before was instantly looked at thoroughly, and the boys would either nod or shake their heads if it was a place they'd decide to venture back to on another late night session.

They came at last though to a room that shocked all three family members. Inside were glowing green tanks that contained animals in them. Boris looked down at Tala for a moment, but continued on without another word. He walked inside and started to explain the complex machinery, and Voltaire listened with a close ear. His attention wavered from the boys who took that moment to explore the room.

Everything was going fine, or at least, it should have been going fine, until Tala walked to the last tank in the room. His eyes wide with shock, his small hands rose to touch it. Kai hurried to his side, and looked at him as though her were crazy. Still, despite the other child telling him to stop, the redhead continued towards the tank.

He looked thunder-stuck, and he was as pale as a ghost. His whole body was shaking as though he was witnessing something he hadn't seen in a long time. The animal in the tank moved ever so slightly and looked at him, their eyes meeting. At first there was nothing there, the animal just staring at him blearily, while Tala stared back.

Yet as the moments passed, the animal seemed to start growing more and more aware to just who the child before it was and it moved despite the sedatives it'd clearly been given. Voltaire spun about when Tala let out a terrible howling cry, his small hands knocking against the glass as the animal weakly attempted to make some sort of movement or sound to ease the boy's fears.

"Boris what on earth is going on!?" Voltaire hissed as he raced forward to see better what was happening.

"That would be the boy's wolf friend that we found him with." The man said simply, motioning towards the wolf. Kai spun back and stared at him in horror before angrily putting Dranzer in its launcher and aiming it at the tank his brother was screaming at. The redhead was pounding at the tank with clenched fists, his face awash with panic and fear, and all the while the tank just glowed brighter and brighter.

The animal slowly stopped moving, and the tank just grew in light. Boris roughly wrenched the blade from Kai's hands and shoved the boy towards his grandfather as he moved to the tank to investigate what was happening. He didn't have a chance to check his scanners; Tala had done what Kai had been planning on. He'd stepped back and launched his blade straight at the contraption, breaking it and shattering the glass.

Fluids went everywhere, and a blinding light filled the room. Everything went silent and when the light faded, all that was left was the body of the white wolf lying motionlessly on the bottom of its tank, and Tala's spinning blade. The boy had somehow managed to pull himself up onto the pedestal and was nuzzling his head into the beast's shoulder, trying to wake it up. His hands stroked the wolf's fur, and his cheek pressed down onto the creature's muzzle, yet no matter what he did…the wolf was no more. It was gone.

Choking sobs echoed from the boy's mouth as he hugged the animal to him, he wasn't strong enough to pick it up, but he could clutch it. It was heartbreaking to watch, and Kai himself appeared to have started to shed some tears. Voltaire stepped forward and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder before spinning to snap to Boris.

"I want this wolf buried immediately. No experiments on its body, no autopsy, nothing. Lay her to rest in the Abbey's cemetery. Do you understand?!" He snapped. Boris nodded, but his attention was on Tala's blade that had hopped up next to the boy. The child glanced down at it, and it glowed a silvery white. All eyes stared at the blade as one lone noise echoed from it.

A wolf's howl.

Tala reached out, his small hands touching the blade and stopping its spin. On the once blank bitchip there was now the stalking form of a proud white wolf. The spirit of Waw-oo that Boris had been attempting to create all along. The boy looked up, trying to understand what was happening, but Kai was the one who managed to explain it.

"Waw-oo became a bitbeast like Dranzer?!" he rushed forward and leaned over the blade, staring at it in awe. He touched the chip in wonder, and yelped when a chilling breeze shot over his hand and nipped at it viciously. Tala giggled through his tears, which were slowly drying on his face.

"Serves you right." He said simply. Kai glared, clearly not finding it as amusing as when Tala got burnt by Dranzer.

"Amazing…" Voltaire murmured as he looked at the glowing blade. He met Boris' eyes.

"Is this the fruits of your research?" He needed to make sure.

"Yes sir. We can now create our own bitbeasts." The man said proudly. Voltaire nodded and pet Tala's hair.

"You see little one? Now your lady wolf can be with you forever." The boy smiled and nodded. He liked that plan.

The screen faded to black again, and when it came back it showed the boys in their cell again. It was a few weeks after Wolborg had been born, and the two boys were lying next to each other, talking quietly as they appeared to be waiting for something. A guard walked passed, and looked inside, and the two closed their eyes and feigned sleep until he kept on walking.

Then as soon as the door closed at the end of the hall, they were up. Shooting to the bars they easily squeezed themselves through and started to make their ways down the hall. They stopped though at another cell, looking in it with looks of shock plastered on their faces. There were people occupying a cell that had been empty previously, and it was clearly surprising to say the least when they found them.

"Hey, who are you?" Tala asked leaning towards the bars to get a better look at the people inside. There was a small gasp between everyone watching the video. There on the screen was a midget version of Bryan Kuznetsov. Kai pulled his brother's shoulder back.

"Honestly Luka, how do you know he's not me, you're gonna get hurt one day." Kai warned, but Tala was ignoring him, and he slipped between the bars without a look back. The lilac haired boy jumped in surprise and jumped back, looking to the other occupier of the room. Spencer.

"Oh hey, aren't you from the other side?" Tala asked as he looked at the blonde who merely nodded.

"Shouldn't you both be back in your own cages?" The blonde asked sarcastically, as he eyed Kai who still was standing in the hall. At that though the fire wielder glared mercilessly and slipped in as well.

"We decided to visit." He mumbled, jutting his chin towards Tala who had plopped himself down in front of Bryan to say hello. Spencer just rolled his eyes.

"I see you can still fit through those things. Tiny little guys aren't you?" He mentioned.

"Sure, can't you?" Tala asked, looking at the boy that was clearly at least a year or two older. Spencer raised an eyebrow.

"Does it look like I could fit through those bars?" The redhead just shrugged and went back to pestering Bryan who had yet to speak. "Leave the kid alone Ivanov." Both boys glanced back at him. "Kid's scared witless, just got here. I got landed in here cause apparently I'm a babysitter now." He clearly wasn't happy with the situation, and the two visitors seemed to pick up on that.

"Want to go to the training center?" Tala asked, bright smile plastered on his face. The blonde rolled his eyes.

"Why would I want to go there now when I'm going to be sent there when it's time for normal people to be awake?" He grumbled and moved over to the corner of the room where he leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes meaningfully. Clearly he was above dallying with the little children.

"Wh-what training center?" Ahah! Bryan could talk! Tala grinned happily and showed him his beyblade with pride.

"It's a bey-stadium where we can play! It's lots of fun when the adults aren't around!" He said excitedly. "Let's go! Spencer's being a spoilsport." He glanced over at the blonde who snorted at that.

Kai though was looking back and forth down the hall, making sure that no guards were coming. He'd lost count of time in the rotation and he didn't want to be caught out of bed. That seemed to be the trick with the Abbey. They didn't mind if you were awake after dark, or even roaming the halls, they just had a strict punishment if you were _caught_ after dark. As long as the boys didn't trip any sensors or alarms and were up bright and early the next morning they'd be fine.

Bryan was nodding eagerly. He pulled out his own beyblade from his pocket and presented it to the group. After a moment of staring Tala groaned loudly, and crossed his arms over his chest. The lilac haired boy frowned in confusion; he didn't understand what had Tala in such a rut.

"Kai, he's got a chicken too!" A burst of fire shot from Kai's hand where Dranzer was angrily waiting, and a gust of wind zoomed from Bryan's. Well used to this attack though the boy simply ducked out of the way, and let Wolborg take care of the fire problem with a little magic of his own.

"It's a falcon not a chicken!" Bryan said indigently.

"Oh woopie." The boy replied, shaking his head. "How exciting." He glanced over to Spencer. "Do you have a Bitbeast too?"

"Are you going to call it a fish?" He asked with a laugh as he pulled Seaborg out for all to see. The redhead looked at it closely, trying to identify just what it was. He frowned though, in all of his time alive he didn't recognize that creature in the slightest.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, and Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. For a moment he thought he was kidding, after all, who didn't know what a whale looked like? Yet the confused look persisted, and upon glancing at Kai who motioned for the older boy to explain, he did so.

"It's a whale, specifically a sperm whale if you must know."

"A sperm whale?" The boy asked, looking up at him in wonder. "Are whales…_like _fish?" He asked, this time not meaning at all for it to sound like he was poking fun at the creature, and it was obvious because he didn't get attacked like he had with the _chickens_.

Spencer nodded and started to explain, his voice quiet but educated. He spoke about how fish lived in the water and they breathed in that water through their gills which saturated it until air was in their blood, about how those same gills and the like were what all creatures of that category used to breathe and how they lay eggs. Then he went on to describe (in relative detail) about mammals and whales and what made a whale a whale and how they were different from things like sharks.

Fascinated, the three younger boys stared up at him in awe, and he smirked proudly as he described it all. When he was done, his crowd was very much impressed, and to be honest the people watching the video were too. Spencer knew his marine life that was for certain. How he came about that information was completely and totally unknown, but he certainly did know it.

"Your bitbeast is a wolf isn't it?"

"Yep! Wolborg's the spirit of Waw-oo!" Tala stated proudly, holding up the bit which glowed proudly in his palm. Spencer didn't comment on that, but nodded none the less. "So we're friends now right?" The boy asked, smiling broadly up at the blonde. The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I suppose…" He looked like he couldn't care either way, but that was fine for them because their opinion on friendship was a simple one at best. Kai called for Tala to start heading out, they didn't have much time before the next guard rotation started, and they couldn't be caught in the halls. The two slipped between the bars, waved to Spencer and Bryan and then trotted back to their cell.

The screen faded to black. The date appeared. It was about three months after the last recording.

The four new friends were running. Series of beyblade launchers appeared on the walls ahead of them, and Spencer cut to s stop just before them. He held his hands out and Bryan kicked off it and jumped into the air, catching just above the launchers on a crevice on the wall and easily started to make his way over. Tala and Kai leaped after him, and Spencer made the jump easily enough by himself.

The lanky beyblader was almost twice as tall as their smallest (Tala) and he was easily able to jump up to the places they could barely reach before. Running through the complicated series of halls and corridors, the boys skidded around corners and drifted into doorways without even blinking.

It was clear that after all the time they spent in the Abbey, they knew it backwards and forwards. Perhaps because of the late night trips, they even knew it better then the guards did. That was unlikely, but it was a fun thought to play with. The boys skidded into one final door, and peeked inside. The coast was clear.

Giggling with delight, they snuck in and headed over to the beydish that was in the center of the room. They took turns just playing in the dish, giggling and laughing and talking like friends. The boys were clearly close, and even though Kai and Tala had a strong relationship before the two others became their friends, the four of them were all quickly becoming closer then ever before.

Multiple clips of the boys laughing and running, jumping through the traps that were set up for the unsuspecting late night sneaker, the group were seen moving passed them with ease. Soon (as the dates flew by) Ian appeared, smallest of the group back then, he was still the smallest now.

The sheer athleticism that was shown by the five was astounding. Their acrobatics were enough to send shivers down the watchers' spines. They leaped and flipped and jumped through traps like it was nothing, and they never once set them off. There was nothing called a bad day, there were no bad days. It was simply life.

Various showings of their training appeared. The boys lined up next to each other in size order, their launchers raised; those words which they could now repeat flawlessly echoing from their mouths in perfect harmony. There were no mistakes. They never lost. They trained so often just for the Abbey, and then even more just for themselves, they were the best, and there was no denying their obvious skills in the dish.

Bryan laughed more then the rest of them. The watchers' couldn't help but wonder how that laugh started to disappear. He joked around the most, pushing and shoving the others and getting into mock fights. The boys had too much energy that they just needed to waste. A year went by, then two. Clips of them all joking and laughing persisted. Even when they were preceded and followed by clips of the drudgery and abuse that was slowly starting to seep its way into the film.

Kai and Tala were eight, Bryan was nine, Ian – seven, and Spencer was pushing ten. When the watchers saw the next clip they were all completely and understandably horrified. It was the start of just what warped the Demolition Boys, and just what turned them into the monsters that they had become today.

Tyson stood up in the middle of it and actually looked like he would start shouting at the television, ordering it to stop, but it didn't and it wouldn't. What happened to the boys was enough to break any child. Of course it had broken those children. Why wouldn't it? After all…they were no different then any other child in the world. They were the same, and as the other teams watched in growing horror, not one of them pressed the stop button. They couldn't. These were the lives of the five boys who had given up _their_ worlds to save this world. So they kept watching, as all the scenes of the happiness of children, slowly faded away.

**Windstar: **Fun fact: if every person who visited/hit this fanfiction left a review, I'd have over three hundred reviews by now. Please take the time to tell me what you think, any form of criticism is appreciated. I enjoy hearing what you think of my work and if there's something that needs to be fixed, it is better for me to know then for me to continue on blindly!


	4. First Steps

**Windstar:** Thank you to all the kind reviewers, truly I've been very blessed to have such nice people like this fanfiction. There is one though in particular I'd like to thank. Takerufallenhope-angel has been with me since my digimon days, and I really have to say that when I recognized the name I was so thrilled. Thanks so much for sticking with me! I've been having some computer problems lately. My laptop is in the pits, and my PC is starting to die slowly yet surely so I'm hoping to get updates up as soon as possible, and as for my other WIP I'm trying to get back to it but I doubt I'll be able to update it for a while since all the chapters have vanished into nothingness and need to be rewritten. I'm working on it though and I'll complete it as soon as I can!

Thanks again, and please review!

**Disclaimer: **See chapter one!

**Chapter Three:**

They were asleep when it happened. They'd come back from their nightly ritual of playing in the Abbey, when the guards appeared. That night hadn't gone so well. They had been playing around, doing what they always did, when they heard the crack that was their warning that someone was coming.

Terrified, but knowing from experience they'd never make it to the door in time, the five boys zoomed to predetermined hiding spots and they ducked into them, silent and quiet as little mice. It was only after Tala had ducked into his hiding spot that it became abundantly clear he'd left something behind. His necklace for instant.

The one that he had been given by _Santa_ years before, was laying haphazardly in the center of the room. A little roughhousing earlier on had broken the clasp and it had been set aside next to his sweatshirt to be fixed later. In their rush to hide, Tala'd grabbed the sweatshirt but not the necklace. That was laying for all the world to see right next to the training dish.

The door opened just as he was getting ready to go out and grab it. His heart pounded heavily in his chest, he looked like he was about to start to cry, and it took everything Kai had to calmly tell him that he needed to wait. They stayed hidden, watching through the cracks of their hiding spot as the guards gave the room an overview, and as everyone knew they would. They spotted the chain.

One guard stepped forward, picking it up and looking it over for a moment before glancing around once more. With a shrug, he put it in his pocket and moved on. Kai practically slapped his hand over Tala's mouth to keep him from calling out when the necklace vanished into the man's pocket. Horror didn't even cover the feelings of loss that were crossed over the redhead's face, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. They couldn't very well steal it back; the only thing they could do was wait until they could speak to Voltaire again and see if he could get it back for them.

That concluded their fun though for the night. The group quietly moved back to their cells and slipped inside, Bryan moved a loose bar to the right to let Spencer slip in. Ian easily managed on his own.

Tala though, looked heartbroken; and as he lay down to go to sleep, Kai hugged him gently and told him everything was going to be alright. It didn't do much convincing, but it was the thought that counted. The two passed out, and it was after they both were completely silent and snoozing away, the guards came.

The slammed the bars to the side, opening the passageway into their cell. Both boys jumped, startled as they woke up, looking around in confusion. One of the guards, the same one who had grabbed Tala's necklace earlier, roughly pulled the redhead up to his feat and started to drag him towards the hall. Kai screamed, successfully waking up the last three Demolition Boys who were panicking as they tried to figure out what was going on.

Terrified to say the least, Tala was being dragged down the hall and out the door. His wide eyes glancing back just in time to see the other guard lock Kai in his cell and follow them. Kai looked ready to slip through and follow, but Tala screamed for him to stop, and he did as he was told. After all…it would do nobody any good if he just got punished for slipping out after dark and resisting the guards.

Tala was dragged through the halls and through doors that had always been locked before. They were bringing him places he'd never been, and he looked panicked at the thought of being taken away from Kai and the others. He was shoved roughly into a laboratory, and as he stumbled in he was caught by Boris. The man smiled wickedly at him and held up the necklace that was left behind in the training center.

Shaking slightly, and not quite understanding what was happening, Tala stuttered over his thank you over the man practically handing it to him. He looked at the man in front of him, and all the doctors that surrounded him, awkwardly. He didn't like this man in the slightest.

"There, there…now that _I've _done something for you…its only right that you do something for me too isn't that right boy?" He asked as he pet Tala's hair in a way that made the redhead want to shrink back. The boy nodded though, blearily, he nodded because he didn't know what else to do. The man grinned triumphantly and pulled the boy with him, shoving him into the center of the room where there was a raised platform. "Take off your shirt boy. You can have your precious necklace back when we're done." The child shivered in the cold but did so anyway. He knew better then to argue with the director.

Standing there topless before the whole room of people made him uncomfortable. Doctors moved forward, placing suction cup looking devices on his chest and head, he frowned in confusion, and wiggled free of some of them before an iron grip on his neck squeezed enough to tell him to settle down. He did so instantly. He didn't dare move.

Another doctor came over and put a breathing mask on his face. By now, the boy was shaking terribly. He looked back at Boris who still clutched his Christmas present in his hand. Then the doctors stepped back, and Boris released his neck. A glass wall came down around the boy and as though everything fit perfectly in place, Tala gasped in horror at what was happening. He reached forward and knocked on the glass, screaming as he did so.

His hand slid into his pocket searching for his beyblade…somewhere along the way though it'd been removed. He had nothing to help him. Gas hit him in the face from the mask he wore and he breathed it in unconsciously. Even as he did so, fluid was pouring in around him. He gagged and tried to tear the mask from his face, but he couldn't do it. His body grew weaker with each passing second, and as he passed out, the fluid surrounded him even more, bringing him to a floating position as he was completely immersed in the water, and only then – did the doctors set to work.

The screen faded. Three days had passed since Tala's removal from his cell. Kai was staring blankly at the food that he was eating in the dining hall. The other Demolition Boys were sitting across and next to him. No one was talking though. There was nothing to talk about. Except for how long it had been since Tala had disappeared from their lives.

From the lack of circles under their eyes that had been a constant while they were up and about all night long, it was clear they hadn't been sneaking out lately. In fact, they appeared to be decidedly lethargic as they poked at their food. There was none of that excitable energy that was a constant with them for all the past clips.

They looked completely and totally spent, and there was nothing anyone could do to make them feel any better. Dropping his fork, Kai leaned forward and let his chin rest on his hand. He looked the worst out of them all. Pale faced, and drawn, he looked as though he'd done nothing but fret and worry the entire three days.

There wasn't even the faint resemblance of smile lines on the boy's cheeks. He looked like he'd just frowned for a year, and the sight was depressing. Apparently, the others thought so too, because Bryan dropped his fork in agitation with a loud clank! The three others looked at him, startled by the outburst.

"Well I say we go find him. They can't have taken him far, and I bet he's still somewhere in this Abbey." He said simply as he leaned closer to his companions.

"And where do you suggest we start looking, genius? We know of every place that's not been locked out, and if we start breaking into things we're going to be in even worse trouble then we already are in." Spencer shot back, scoffing slightly at the idea.

They all fell silent. Nobody dared say a word after that, and it appeared as though they'd decided to wait it out. A few hours later (or so said the clock on the right hand corner of the screen with the date) they were in their cells again. Night time. Kai was pacing back and forth in his room, and it was clear he wasn't getting any sleep. Frustrated though, he slipped through the bars with that practiced ease, and he trotted down the hall.

He ignored his three friends that were still dozing away, and he made it out the door. Slowly yet surely he started to move through the Abbey. His steps were low and practiced. He made sure that each one was silent, and he kept his eyes trained (ever watchful for any signs of a guard or someone moving up and about after dark).

Bryan had been right. He couldn't just sit there and not find out where his friend was. If he searched the entire Abbey, it wouldn't be too hard to find out where his friend was. After all, people didn't just vanish into thin air.

He walked swiftly through the dark, carefully moving towards a door that had always been locked. He approached it, pressing his ear to it and listening. There was a silence that was deafening, and he slowly pulled his beyblade from his pocket. Slipping the attack ring off the blade, he pushed it into the crack of the door and with some finagling, began to move the lock over.

It didn't take that long, and when he succeeded, he placed the blade back in his pocket and opened the door. Looking inside, he made sure no one could see him, and he stepped in. He watched the floors and the walls and everything else for a trap. He caught several of them, and he avoided them.

He wouldn't be caught this deep in the Abbey without permission- that would be suicide. He tiptoed through the rooms, each locked door becoming unlocked with the flick of a wrist. He moved through them with ease, and his eyes adjusted to the dark like a cat in the night. It was simple and it was practiced.

He was used to becoming invisible if he had to. He was used to sneaking up on the dark, and he had no problem using those skills to move through this maze. Taking a deep breath he started to make his way towards another door, when he saw light coming out from under it. He pressed his ear to it, and heard voices. There were people on the other side. Cursing he stepped back and looked around. That was the last door he hadn't searched yet.

He peered through the crack, and gasped. He could just make out red hair. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle, and slowly pushed the door open. The room was becoming more visible, and very few people actually noticed that the door had even opened. Yet that didn't bother him.

What bothered him was the sight of the boy he considered to be his brother, floating in the same type of tank that had held the wolf before him. He floated in the water, eyes half open, his mind sedated as dozens of people in white lab coats rushed about taking notes and jotting down data.

They were shouting about discoveries and the like, and they kept pressing buttons that would make the body in the tank twitch or wince. They sent electric currents through the fluid, and watched the effects on the boy. All the while he was floating in some daze that didn't even appear to be anywhere near conscious. In fact, he was most likely knocked out and his eyes had just floated open at some point.

Either way, Kai hated every second of it. His hand slammed Dranzer into her launcher and with a scream he pulled the ripcord back and let the blade fly. It shot over their heads and crashed straight into the tank, cutting it in two and shattering the glass completely.

Kai ran forward, willing Dranzer to break everything that even looked like it was harming his friend and brother. The wires that were connected to the boy were snapped and the mask was torn off. Through it all the doctors ran screaming and trying to salvage their work the best they could. They weren't getting anywhere though, because the beyblade and her bit were out giving Kai the revenge that he so desperately needed.

Kai's rage though, did nothing for Tala. His body teetered as the fluid about him drained, and he fell. His right arm catching on the jagged pieces of glass that had once been the bottom of the tank, and continuing downwards until he was shredded terribly. His body had freefalled until it landed on the remainder of the glass, cutting it and stabbing it. Blood seeped out from his arm which had been torn so badly that there was more blood visible then skin.

Boris had arrived at long last, his eyes taking in the temper tantrum and the redhead who was slumped on the ground motionless. He stormed forward anger in his steps and he roughly punched the slate haired child in the jaw. He sailed to the floor, Dranzer flying in to protect him, but the man hardly cared, he kicked the blade aside without even thinking about it.

"_You fool! Do you know what you've done!?" _Boris kicked the boy where he lay and then ordered the guards to take him to a secluded room – without bars – and lock him there, then he sent for someone to fix Tala's arm. Blood continued to stain everything, including the boots that Boris walked in.

The screen faded, reappearing with Kai in a stone room with a wooden door in front of him. He was crying terribly, sniffling louder and louder as he clearly was remembering his brother's broken appearance only two hours before. He was completely and utterly inconsolable.

The door opened up, and Boris stormed in, followed by two other men. Kai looked at the director and was immediately struck heavily across the face. That only got more choking tears from the boy. It didn't seem to matter to the purple haired leader of the Abbey. He grabbed Kai by the scruff of his neck and he threw him down facing the wall. A pole was lying horizontally above the ground, three inches up; it was easily grabbed onto by the child. It was nailed down and Boris told him to hold onto it. Not that the child needed to. The men moved forward and strapped his hands to it.

Then Boris ordered the shirt off, and the child's back was bare before him. Frightened tears poured form Kai's crimson eyes he was shaking his head, coughing through the tears, but that made no difference to the man who simply raised a whip up and brought it down as hard as he possibly could onto the boy's back. The child screamed loudly, crying out with each lash that he was given, but Boris gave no quarter. Instead he chanted words and ideologies to the child.

"You _never_ show your emotions. Emotions are for the _weak_. Things like love and compassion only get you _killed_. Think only of yourself _boy_. There is no _love_. There is no _joy_. There is _nothing_. Emotions _destroyed_ your little friend! You blindly _run_ out and open fire, and there are _consequences_. You must be strong! You must be _powerful_. You must never show what you _feel!_ NEVER again disobey me. NEVER break what is not yours to break." He whipped the boy harder and harder until blood poured from his back. The child's choking sobs had somehow though slowed down. They weren't the loud bawls they had once been. Instead, his eyes locked set in determination. His jaw clenched, and though tears still fell from his face, he never once said anything in return. With one last strike, Boris gripped the bound boy roughly by his hair and pulled him back. "And yes Kai…you _are my mine to break_." A rabbit punch to the boy's temple and he was knocked out; completely and totally senseless to the world.

The screen faded once more, but it came back much faster then usual, this time accompanied with a rather irate screaming that was echoing through the whole Abbey. Even for the watchers, the hotel room seemed to be filled with the screaming of the rather angry woman that was soon visible storming through the hallways of the demented school.

"Where is my son!?" Aya Hiwatari Ivanov was not a happy person. In fact, from the flashing and angry eyes, it was clear that she was probably the most stressed and furious women on the planet at that particular moment. She was seen storming through the various cell blocks until she got to the one where Kai and Tala usually were in, and finding it decidedly empty, she spun on her heel and she stormed back through the building. She was about to leave when a hand reached out and caught her by the wrist. Turning, she came face to face with Bryan.

"You're Kai's mama aren't you?" He was standing in the hall after slipping through the bars, and she looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, he and Luka's."

"Luka disappeared days ago…and Kai went after him. We haven't seen either of them since." Her eyes widened drastically and she knelt before the boy, lowering herself to eye level.

"What happened? Where'd they go?" She was clearly on the verge of a breakdown, and it looked like she was slowly growing more and more horrified then ever before.

"Boris sent a few guards for Luka and they took him from his room, like a week ago? I don't know about Kai. I just saw him leaving in the middle of the night and probably went after him. I'm not sure where."

A sound at the end of the hall sent Bryan back into his cell, squeezing between the bars and just managing to make it in time before a few guards appeared at the end of the hall. With them, was young Kai. The boy's eyes were hard, and from the distant look on his face it was clear that Boris had managed to get what he wanted after all. Kai looked completely and totally emotionless; his eyes seeing without reacting, and his body stiff. He looked to be a shell of his former self.

There was a distinct amount of bruising on his face, and when the woman caught sight of it she screamed in horror and rushed to the boy's side. She held him to her chest, but he didn't return the hug, not really. He laid his head on the woman's shoulder, but that was it. There was no real response out of him, and if anything it made the woman more scared.

"Sacha? Sacha? Honey, it's Mama." She held him back to look at him, but Kai barely even was reacting to her presence where in the past he'd throw himself to her chest and call out her _name _(title really). "Sacha…Sacha…what's wrong? Are you okay?" Of course he wasn't, the bruises on his face showed that clearly enough.

"I…broke Luka" He mumbled softly, his eyes staring her straight in the face. Her muscles tensed and her fists clenched hard as she glared at the guards that were Kai's bystanders. Standing up roughly, she pulled the boy to her, and picked him up. Holding him to her chest she had a power that seemed to bring the room to an icy cold. The two men exchanged glances, intimidated by this woman who was throwing her energy like a trained assassin. She was a mother protecting her young, and she was furious.

"Bring. Me. To. Luka. _Now._" She commanded. They faltered, and when they appeared like they weren't going to do as she said, she took a threatening step forward. "If you don't. I will watch you _burn_." Not willing to disobey their president's daughter, the two scurried off, leading the two through a complicated series of halls until they made it to the medical facility. The boy in her arms glanced inside as they walked in, and despite his efforts at locking away all his feelings, when he caught sight of the redhead lying on the bed he gasped ever so slightly.

The boy was pale as a ghost, his skin practically as white as the sheets that he lay on. His arm was bandaged tightly, and similar bandages encompassed his torso and parts of his legs. A large pad was on the side of his face and his fingers were cut and bruised badly.

He was a mess to put it simply, and the woman moved to his side in horror. Her hand reached out to touch his face, even as she slowly placed Kai down on the bed. The boy kneeled beside his brother, taking his appearance and feeling as though his heart were breaking. He clenched his fists and looked down.

Fingers though were moving. Twitching ever so slightly and the boy couldn't help himself from touching them, holding his brother's hand. With that comforting gesture, blue eyes slowly started to open and he came face to face with his adoptive mother. The woman cried out with joy and hugged him close to her, but at his gasp of protest, she released him.

"I'm bringing you home, alright Luka? You'll never have to come back here for as long as I live. You and Sacha…we're going home." One of the guards started to protest, telling her she had no authority to do so, but she turned and quickly put him in her place. Hell fire pouring from her seething gaze, she tenderly slipped her arms under Tala's legs and pulled the boy to her chest. He was heavy, but right now she didn't care as long as she could bring him with her.

Kai fell into stride behind her, stopping only when he saw Wolborg lying on the doctor's desk. He snatched it up and followed after her, keeping his brother's blade safe while he followed her outside. Tala was in and out of consciousness, barely able to keep focus the world around him, and when the screen faded and reappeared into the Ivanov household, it was clear that not much had changed.

He was placed in the car shaped bed he'd had when he'd first arrived, and Kai sat down near him, waiting and watching, wondering when he was going to wake up, and if he was going to be alright when he did.

Aya was in the kitchen, making herself a cup of tea as she tried to shake away the nerves. There was a doctor there now though, and her husband too. She had to have called them after her trip to the Abbey. She was looking at the man as he spoke sternly to them both.

"From what I've been able to tell, someone whipped Sacha quite soundly…and the psychological stress associated with it. I'm quite certain that's the cause of his sudden displays of muteness and lack of clear emotive qualities. Time around the family and surrounded by love, should hopefully bring him back to you…He's not beyond hope I don't believe. Luka I'm more concerned with. His injuries look rather extensive. He has quite a large amount of stitches all over his body, the most being focused on his right arm. I have no real way of knowing when they were put in, but if we say a couple of days to a week ago then I can assume when would be the best time to remove them. His right arm might not even be able to move to its full capacity again…whatever cause the damage seems to have cut into some of the muscles. If that's the case, it will be a long hard rode for him to start being able to function properly…and we can't know much else until he wakes up fully."

The parents nodded slowly, exchanging worried looks between themselves. They had known the moment they took the bandages off that Tala was hurt horrendously, but when Kai's shirt had been removed, they'd been even more horrified. Both boys had been cruelly put through excruciating pain. It was difficult to imagine how they had come by those injuries, but Kai insisted that Luka had been hurt because of him, and that it had been all his fault. He had even gone so far as to say that he had deserved the beating because of what he'd done to his brother.

Voltaire was a force to be reckoned with as well. As soon as he'd heard about the boys he stormed into the Abbey and he roughly pulled Boris up by the collar. Angry and hurt the man shouted profanities and even went so far as to punch the man so hard in the eye that blood squirted from the wound.

Never had the old man felt so violated and tarnished. His very being had felt like it'd been molested when he'd heard about the monstrosities that had occurred on his grandchildren. Some things were going to change, and they were changing _now_. New rules and regulations were being set forth.

First and foremost: There would be no more prison like cells for rooms. Actual beds and actual flooring would be put down; preferably on the upper levels of the Abbey so there could actually be some sunlight on the children who were already growing far paler that was normal for Russians. The prison like feel to their rooming situation was disastrous and it was doing nothing for the self esteem and emotions of the students. Hoping to be a powerful blader or not, they weren't mushrooms, some sunlight wouldn't kill them.

Secondly: There would be absolutely no abuse tolerated. The atrocious whipping that had occurred on the man's eight year old grand child had been enough to shell shock the boy into barely speaking and barely reacting to the world around him. He was a child, and he should be treated like one. A whipping was hardly required when someone did something they weren't supposed to. That was just idiocy, and that would have to stop. NOW.

Thirdly: No experiments were to be run on terrified adolescents who had no idea what was going on. Everything was to be explained to a _willing_ and mature enough student who could actually understand what was happening to them, and it would not be done in a cloak and dagger style that terrified all the people that saw the kidnapping occur. That was simply inexcusable let alone unnecessary.

Fourthly: There will be a scheduled block of time where the children of the Abbey could actually be just that. A block of time that was not from ten in the evening to two in the morning. If children were sneaking out of bed to play then they weren't getting the rest they needed for their training the next day. Give them the time off and they could use it how they wanted too.

And finally: children with families or friends were allowed to leave to visit them if they wished to.

Boris had been furious. He had been irate even. Yet he nodded simply, agreed, and did what his boss commanded him to do. It was all he could do, or he'd risk his funding and he would have to start elsewhere. Still though, with the two most promising students promised to never return to the Abbey, things would run slower then normal, especially with breaks and lack of experiments being implemented. All in all, things were starting to go south and the man hated it.

Tala woke up fully after about another three days. He blearily moved about for a while after that, seemingly in a half daze. Kai was a constant at his side, and though the younger boy didn't show it, it was clear that he was immensely worried for his friend. The seven orphans that lived in the Ivanov household played with each other mostly, not really getting too involved with the still dazed Tala and the silent Kai. It suited the slated haired boy just fine, he didn't want to get too involved with them either.

Time passed, the days ticking by, and showing the eventual progress and healing of the redhead's arm. With it, came Kai's voice. Aya and Niko suggested martial arts lessons, and the boys took to them like a fish to water. Surprisingly enough though, the moment that they stepped foot into the dojo, they fought like seasoned professionals.

It was a sad truth about their abilities and experiences that caused the parents to stare at their children in shock. They were set to work on simple forms and moves, and yet the first time they were shown how to do something they did it like they'd done it for years. Their punches were fast and perfect, they threw their weight just where it needed to be, and quickly they were moving far passed their standard age bracket.

One clip showed the boys fighting each other (since no one else was even allowed to fight them). Kai and Tala exchanged blows in an almost lethargic and bored fashion, their faces neutral even as their bodies moved with a lightening speed. Their hands were already calloused beyond what was normal, and so when they punched they felt no resistance on their knuckles. It only ended when their Sensei told them to stop, and even then there was never any true winner. No blows were ever landed.

Beyblading was almost prohibited in their household, at least for those two. Rarely did the two ever launch their blades to battle, instead they would watch the others in a mute and almost lonely silence, not really participating, but not really sitting out either. Their own blades never left their sides. They constantly held them with them as though they were life lines.

Voltaire managed to get the necklace back for Luka, and the redhead hugged the man happily and told him "Thank you Santa" when he received it. The man just smiled, it was hard to fool a boy that saw everything. Even in disguise. The man pet his hair fondly and just let him rabbit off to be with Kai, the two talking in silence once more.

The days seemed to drag on, and as the weeks passed, there were changes in the slate haired boy's persona. He laughed every so often. He smiled (mostly to Luka) and he was starting to show signs of emotion. Never though did he show any anger. He steadfastly kept away from those feelings vehemently. Whenever he started to get frustrated, he walked away, Tala in tow.

As Kai slowly allowed others in, and the months started passing, the boys were closer then ever. Beyblading started but it was a more spinning of the blade while talking then an actual battle. There was no fevered rush of energy to try to best each other. There was no strangled battle cry. There was only the simple meditation that the spinning blade provided, and the two allowed it.

Back in the Abbey, things changed slowly yet surely. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian were allowed to visit the boys at their home, and they brought with them stories about how they now had plush carpets and beds with dressers. They could play in the snow and make snowmen, and they had time where they were just allowed to relax. The Abbey started sounding more like a normal school, and the three wondered faintly if their two friends would come back with them, but it looked like their answer would be no. The two barely touched their blades as it was.

Kai went back to being known as Sacha by everyone, though whenever Voltaire came around his name instantly reverted back to the man's preferred. Luka himself was even granted a nickname by the man, and who could have guessed it…it was Tala. The two were the apples of the old man's eyes and it was clear that he treated them with all the love in his heart.

Their parents watched over as they laughed and talked with the man as though he were on par with them, and they even allowed them both to go with Voltaire into the city and look at the Hiwatari Enterprises headquarters. Life was starting to seem fortunate for the first time, but to the watchers it was obvious that things would take a turn for the worst.

After all… Sacha and Luka were both orphans, and Voltaire eventually plotted to take over the world. Things like that did not just happen too people who were living such attempted ordinary lives. The next clip seemed out of place, but if one cared to notice it was with Boris.

The man was talking to a boy, one of the orphans that lived at the Ivanov home. Few words were exchanged, but an envelope was passed to the child, and he nodded before scurrying back to where everyone was playing on the field. No one else seemed to notice the exchange and everything seemed to flow as it normally did. The parents weren't home though.

The boy, they called him Mikhail, took up a ball, and pegged Tala in the head with it. The blue eyed child hadn't been paying attention -he'd been speaking with Kai about something. The ball bounced off, and the boy raised a hand to his head in annoyance.

"What the hell Mikhail?" He muttered as he rubbed where the ball bounced off.

"What?" The boy asked, chucking another ball. The redhead flinched, but didn't truly do anything to stop it. He simply sighed and stood up, starting to walk away. Kai followed instantly. "You're such a pansy Red! Your just chicken shit that's all, no wonder you got all those cuts on you, I bet you just stood there and let it happen huh? Let some freak just cut you open huh?" Both boys froze at that, Tala's blue eyes glancing back at Kai.

"Let it go." He whispered, but the boy wasn't listening. For the first time it looked like he was actually going to do something about it. "Sacha…" It was a warning…and it didn't look like it was going to be headed.

"Come on Red…or are you to scared to actually fight back?" Kai reached down, ignoring the final warning from his companion. He picked up the ball, spun about, and with perfect accuracy he chucked the ball straight at Mikhail, knocking him to the ground in an instant.

"And so the fight begins." Tala sighed and raise a hand to knock the bangs from his eyes. "Just don't kill him. Mama won't like that." With that last bit of permission that he truly didn't need, Kai snapped forward and punched out just as the older boy started to stand up.

Mikhail just managed to roll out of the way, and soon an all out fist fight was occurring. It was obvious that Kai had the upper hand, all of his strikes landed perfectly and his defense was unbreakable. No matter how fast or how strong Mikhail went at him, he blocked each strike perfectly. There was clearly no concern for his friend's safety written on Tala's face. He looked rather bored with the whole scenario.

Then though, just when Mikhail was about to be knocked clear off his feet, the older boy flew forward and shoved Kai as hard as he could. Startled, Sacha tried to catch himself, but stumbled out into the road instead and landed on his backside. Sitting up slowly, he shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts.

"_Sacha- car!"_ He sensed rather then heard Tala's terrified scream. His attention was solely on the blue sedan that was flying straight towards him. The light reflected off of it beautifully, the sky reflected off its hood.

On the inside of the car was a man and a woman, they probably had been out shopping, or maybe a date? The car glistened in the daylight, as though it had been there all along and had owned the road it drove on. It sailed in perfect harmony, the trees surrounding it seemed to dance as it drove, they bounced off the shiny blue and reflected back for all to see.

The tires were black and muddles, they looked brand new. The rims were shiny and silver. The engine made a beautiful noise, a truly well trimmed car. It was kept in a garage, there weren't even bugs in the window, it was a convertible, it was flying towards him, it was sleek, the people in the car screamed, he didn't have time to move, the wheel turned, he ducked his head, raising his arm up as though he could possibly defend himself.

Then there was silence. There wasn't a crash. No that would be obvious. There was silence. There wasn't even a thud when the body was ejected from the car. That would have made time act normal. Everything had stopped. There was the car driving in his mind, and then nothing. There was absolutely nothing. Until the aftermath. He didn't register the swerve. He didn't even notice the actually crash. It was just the aftermath.

A woman, his mother, was lying on the ground, her head crushed to thousands of pieces, blood pooled around her. Her body was bent in the wrong way and broken. Her arm had been torn off by the pavement and it lay somewhere to her right. Her eyes stared at her son as though asking him why he was there. Her eyes bore into his soul as though trying to read what he was thinking and what he was saying.

He couldn't even see his father, just the blood that stained the windshield and door. He was obscured by the tree that he'd crashed into, the car wrapped around it like a pretzel. There was glass everywhere, but Kai was fine. He hadn't even been touched. Not one piece of glass or debris had touched him. Nothing.

There weren't tire marks on the road. There wasn't the roar of the engine. There was nothing except for the complete and total silence that filled his shell shocked brain. Those, and the words that Boris had told him as he'd beaten him half to death.

"_You never show your emotions. Emotions are for the weak. Things like love and compassion only get you killed. Think only of yourself boy. There is no love. There is no joy. There is nothing. Emotions destroyed your little friend! You blindly run out and open fire, and there are consequences. You must be strong! You must be powerful. You must never show what you feel! NEVER again disobey me. NEVER break what is not yours to break…and yes Kai…you are my mine to break."_

It was his parents' love for him that had made them swerve that car. It had been his anger at Mikhail that had started the fist fight that had landed him in the street. It had been his love for Tala that made him stand up for the redhead. Emotions had destroyed his parents. Emotions had caused him to run out blindly and open fire on the other boy, and the consequences were his parents' lives. He wasn't strong. He wasn't powerful. He showed what he'd felt and he'd left the Abbey. His final act of defiance wasn't even that.

Boris had broken him back there in that building, but right now…Kai had broken himself.

**Windstar: **Next update: Sunday


	5. Dancing with Fire

**Windstar**: I can't really say much about this chapter, other then writing it was one of the hardest things I had to do. There was a lot in this chapter, and though it's shorter then the previous ones by a bit, it's not necessarily lacking in content. There's a lot going on, and this basically is the beginning of everything that's happening to the boys. Thanks again to all of my wonderful reviewers, and I look forward to hearing your comments on this one!

**Disclaimer: **See First chapter

**Chapter Four:**

Kai didn't move as Tala roughly grabbed his arm and spun him to face him. Even when Tala's shaking fingers cupped his face, he didn't move. He didn't move a muscle, because his mind was still trying to piece together where the crash had gone. The car had been in front of him…then there were bodies. There was no crash. So it couldn't have happened. He couldn't have missed the crash. It happened right in front of him.

Then the tears came, he needed to make sure that the crash existed. Shoving Tala back, he turned and stared at the broken and deformed body of his mother. It was twisted in all the wrong places and it was shredded to bits. It didn't look like his mother, and he could hardly recognize her. Except for the eyes. The eyes stared at him. The eyes meant she was dead. The eyes meant he'd killed her.

He felt himself falling, he felt the tears fall from his eyes as he screamed, trying to understand what had happened. He felt his body twisting and writhing on the ground even as Tala tried to pull him together. He felt everything, and that's when he felt hatred. What had caused him to be in the road? That was simple. It was Tala. He'd done it for Tala's sake, and he'd been pushed in because he'd been fighting _for_ Tala.

Anger coursed through his veins and with it was the last shred of emotion that he had left. His hands flew out, caught Tala by the throat, and shoved him down. The redhead gasped out of reflex, and Kai's fingers squeezed all the harder. Pale hands clawed at Kai's, trying to get him to get off of him. He choked under his younger brother's hold and he writhed as he tried to buck the bigger boy off of him.

"Sacha-" He rasped, trying desperately to get his attention. "S-stop!" That was all the air he had left in his body, with one last feat of desperation he turned roughly to the side, and he kicked at the same time. Kai went sailing, but it wasn't long before he was back on him, punching, kicking, clawing, biting, anything and everything that would cause Tala pain. That's all he wanted. He wanted Tala to feel the same way he felt, and Tala did nothing to stop it.

He curled into a ball and he kept his vitals blocked, but other then that he allowed his friend to beat away at him, because beating him meant that Kai was still there. Kai was still alive, and he was still there. No matter how much he was hurting right now, Kai wasn't dead, and that was what was important. To Tala, there was no time to grieve about the parents who had been taken away from him right before his eyes; there was only Kai who was slowly detaching himself from the world bit by bit by bit.

The violence was senseless and it had to true point, but it showed him that Kai still was conscious somewhere in his mind. He was still able to see and he was still able to hear. That meant that there was still time to fix all the wrongs that had been done to him, even though their parents could never be brought back.

When the paramedics arrived, Kai had collapsed. Tala's arms had encircled his body, pulling him close to him. Even through that, Kai's hands hit and struck Tala's bruised back. The redhead didn't seem to notice or to care. He just hugged his broken brother, and he refused to let go, because he knew something the others hadn't seen yet.

Kai was crying. Through it all, tears were pouring from the boy's eyes as his soul was shattering into thousands of pieces. There was nothing there except for the total and complete bleakness of his life, and he was slowly just wasting away in his own mind. Tears fell like rain, and Tala could only hug him in hopes he could make it better.

The boys were hurried into an ambulance, and Kai was torn from Tala as a paramedic tried to see if there was anything they could do for the redhead's bruises. Instead they just brought the two to the hospital, and everyone waited. Kai's violent fit had passed, and now he had fallen into his silent mode once more.

The next scene showed inside the hospital. Voltaire had rushed up to Tala, and was looking him over, worriedly trying to see if there was any lasting hurt. His hands moved over the boy's black eye and his multiple bruises, ghosting over his scarred arm with concern.

"They didn't tell me you were in the accident too…" Voltaire said softly as he looked at his wounded grandchild. The red-locks shook though as the boy answered in the silent no.

"I wasn't. Sacha-"

"Where's Kai?" Voltaire was looking around, trying to pick out the boy from the chaos that was happening all around them.

"Inside." A pale hand motioned towards the room that he was leaning against the wall for. He caught the old man's jacket before he went in. "Grampa…he's not Sacha anymore…" The boy whispered cryptically, and the old man moved inside to see for himself just what had happened to the other child.

Kai was leaning back on the bed he'd been placed in. His hair was all over the place. Dull eyes stared out the window. He didn't look at all like himself. He had reverted far worse then he had the first time he'd locked his feelings away. Now he truly looked dead to everything. He was so desensitized that the world could no longer shock or scare him.

Voltaire moved closer, trying to get a better view at the boy's face, but he came up with nothing that was new - just the constant and total appearance of a boy who had given up all hope in the world. He moved and sat besides the boy, drawing him into a hug.

"Kai…?" The man asked as he pet the boy's hair gently, trying to get his attention. He wasn't answered, and the child barely moved a muscle despite the old man's attentions. He let the man do what he pleased, and he didn't bother trying to struggle out of the way or make himself more comfortable. He just stayed the way he was…bleak…and empty. "Kai…?" Nothing. No response. "Sacha?" That got a reaction, but not the one the man hoped for. The boy tore from his arms and glared up at him with blank eyes that carried no clear motive.

"Don't call me that ever again." The man frowned, but nodded, trying to keep the boy talking.

"Why Kai…?"

"I will never be Sacha again. I hate that name. I hate that person. I'm not that person. Don't call me that name!" The boy was getting more and more hysterical, and from the noise of shifting behind him, Voltaire could tell that Tala had slipped into the room and was watching quietly from the corner.

"Alright…alright, calm down son." The man soothed, gently trying to ease the boy's hysteria.

"S-Kai…?" Tala whispered, stepping forward. The boy glanced towards him and flinched ever so slightly. The bruising on Luka's face was growing with each passing second. It clashed violently with his pale skin. It made him look dead. Dead like his parents. Dead like the parents he'd killed because they'd loved him. Just like how Luka inevitably loved him.

"Get away from me." Kai hissed. Dark eyes glared hatefully at the older boy. Tala flinched at the tone, not quite understanding, he took a step forward.

"Kai…?"

"Get away from me _murderer_." Tala physically wrenched back as though he'd been struck.

His face was a look of pure horror. He could hardly believe what his brother had just told him. He could hardly believe any of it. He felt his mouth open wide, he felt tears come to his eyes, and he felt himself grow cold as images of the crash flashed before his eyes. He had refused to think about it until he knew his brother was alright, but now that that was settled, his brother's harsh rejection had been enough to cause all the feelings of guilt and loss pile up.

The boy stepped quietly from the room without another word, head hung low and body posture like that of a kicked dog. He looked horrible…and he looked more miserable then he'd ever been a day in his life. His very features seemed to turn downwards in that slump. His body already broken, all it took was that final jab to his soul to make him start to crack.

That's how it was. Even after Voltaire took the boys to his mansion, and found some place for the orphans to go to, Mikhail surprisingly enough ending up in the Abbey of all places, the boys were split apart with a rift so huge that a spaceship could fit through it.

They didn't talk to each other, and when meals were served, they didn't look at each other. Kai spent his days sitting in a recliner, watching the wild's that were Siberia from the sun room. Tala spent his in his room. If Voltaire hadn't insisted on mandatory meals together, the boys wouldn't even have contact with one another.

Kai took to face paint. The top right triangle was for his mother: for the life that he stole from her when she was ejected from her car that swerved to miss him. The top left was for his father: for the life he stole when the car crashed into the tree after it swerved. The bottom right was for his brother: for the life that was becoming lost because it had gotten to know him. The bottom left was for him: for the life he was killing by staying alive.

They were lost in their brooding, and they couldn't see for one moment that their misery was only hurting the other even more. Kai could so easily remember getting on the three, Boris standing above him, his whip slashing his back. He'd been put there for one reason. He'd thought his brother was being hurt, and he'd gone to save him. That was forever their way.

It was never a matter of if they would sacrifice themselves together. It was a matter only of when and where. Kai would have let Boris whip him on the three for the rest of his life, if only he knew that Tala was safe and that everything was going to be okay. Now though, the three didn't matter. Now that pole in the center of the room with no bars to slip through, was meaningless.

No one would be on the three, and it wouldn't matter if they were. They were completely and totally broken now. Their parents were dead, and if their bond as brothers meant that they would be harmed, then Kai would rather they never were brothers in the first place. He would rather that Tala ignored him and forgot about him, just as he tried to ignore and forget about Tala.

Because he knew, Tala would strap himself to the three, he would display his back proudly, and he would whistle a happy tune while he was whipped to ribbons if it meant Kai's happiness…and Kai wouldn't let that happen. He would not watch his brother kill himself and let himself be killed for a love that only resulted in pain. Everyone dies if they show their emotions. Bonds were meaningless. That was all that mattered.

With that…Voltaire sent them back to the Abbey. He couldn't think of anywhere else to put them. They were slowly brooding themselves into zombies. They barely ate, they barely spoke, and they were so far from each other that it was only going to get worse. At least there, they could vent their frustrations constructively…and everything had changed after all.

They were roommates again, that was a must, though their rooms were no longer easily broken out of. There would be no late night ventures into the dark. There would be nothing except for the eventual and future truth of simply having to coexist. They started their days the way they did at the mansion.

In silence.

They marched with all the others to the dining hall and they sat down beside Ian, Spencer, and Bryan. Their friends had never once forgotten about them. They spoke of random things in hopes of getting the two to brighten up, but the forlorn faces of their companions were practically impossible to break through.

Training though, did have the desired break through in frustrations, more so then ever before the two struck with intensity that burned with the deep emotions in their hearts. Prospective bladers dropped like flies as the two fought time and time again. They attacked with hatred and with anger and they looked to fight to the end.

For the first time, they started to shatter the blades that they were up against. They didn't want to see simply a knock out. They wanted to see death. They wanted to destroy. They needed to go all the way through our things weren't finished yet. Pain and hatred and anger were powerful tools and they fought with them masterfully.

Nothing mattered anymore. As long as they could blade they were happy. They were perfection in it of itself. They were singularly the most powerful bladers in the world, only having each other as competition.

Still, through it all they never once said a word to each other.

Bryan was slowly yet surely being put on the three more and more often. It was an experiment. They wanted to break him like they had the two others. They wanted to see if they could make Bryan attack and kill without mercy. No one told Voltaire because the three wasn't meant to be there any longer. Abuse was no longer tolerated.

That didn't stop it though.

One day, as Bryan was about to be led away, the lilac haired blader looked at Tala with wide eyes. They were begging, pleading for help. The boy didn't want to go to the tower. He didn't want to go and he didn't want to be told that only weaklings stopped at a knock out. He didn't want to be told that he was unnecessary.

So Tala stepped in. He punched the guard that was holding Tala, and he made some snide remark. Kai watched on mutely, watched his brother sacrifice himself for someone else, and he turned and walked away. It wasn't in his name, it wasn't his problem. So he ignored it.

He didn't help the redhead when he was tossed into their room. He didn't help him get onto the bed. He didn't help him limp over to the dresser and bandage himself. He didn't say anything when the boy cursed and tripped over the floor and passed out on the carpet. He didn't help him at all. He just rolled over and went to sleep. Tala was in no threat of dying.

The name Luka disappeared from everyone's vernacular. It was becoming a common place to call him Tala now. Ever since he'd come back the guards had called him that and soon even the others were calling him that too. Ian let it slip once, and everyone had stared at him. No one called him Tala except for the adults. Yet he let it slide with a shrug. He didn't care. What was in a name? Especially when the one who gave it to you was as good as dead.

Then the worst happened. Black Dranzer appeared. The screen faded away and when it came back, the black blade spun around a beydish and Kai was seen watching it with wide eyes. He was looking at it, looking at it like he was possessed. His finger's twitched towards it and his heart seemed to pump all the faster.

At lunch the others spoke about it. They were all excited after the demonstration. Kai, as usual, stayed silent. He didn't say a word. In fact, he did nothing except for stare at his food. He needed to see it. He needed to see it. It was beautiful. It was perfection. It was the one thing that he desired: the ability to be free and to be independent. He could be free from the world so long as he had that blade.

He thought about the outside. The outside, where he could do anything he wanted. He could leave the Abbey and he could do something else. He could get away from the sacrificing and the pain. He could get away from the torture and abuse. He could disappear forever and everything would be better.

He glanced at Tala. The boy's bright eyes had regained some of their light the longer that he stayed with the others. He was healing now, and he was leaving Kai behind. Kai was stuck being the same he always had been, but Tala was healing. He wasn't cracking…he was fixing crevices. The blue eyes turned and met his, and the boy smiled.

"What did you think Kai?" It was the first sentence that had been spoken to him in such a long time from that boy that the slate haired child actually faltered. He answered though, sure as day he answered, and Tala grinned back when he did. Cracks could be fixed. Breaks had duct tape. Kai was putting himself back together as visions of the outside spun in his head.

He was not going to spend the rest of his life on the three. Neither was Tala. Neither were the others. They were leaving. They were leaving and they were going to get away. Voltaire would finance it. He would understand that they couldn't take it anymore, that they could do it.

Back in the room, for the first time in months, Kai hugged his older brother. The boy actually recoiled in shock, but he held his dearest friend back. Then the younger child took a step back, his face set in determination, and Tala met his gaze.

"Let's get out of here." Kai whispered. He needed this. He needed to leave. He needed to get out of this Abbey, by whatever means necessary he needed to leave. Tala slowly nodded.

"For how long?" The boy asked. They'd never left for good. Was that even an option?

"Forever." That sounded too good to be true. That sounded too perfect to be real. No more three. No more beatings. No more training that made their emotions run haywire. No more experiments that Voltaire didn't know about. No more of anything. They wouldn't be apart of this place's future. They were its past; they had their own future to reach for.

"The others?" It was uncanny how after so long they could still speak in such cryptic ways with perfect understanding. They could still work out the words and know what the other was thinking. They could do it all.

"Them too. Let's go."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"Okay." They were going to leave, they were going to leave and nothing was going to stop them. Nothing was going to stand in their way. With bright smiles they left their room and went back to training, they slipped their intentions to the others secretly and they all agreed. They would break out tonight…and they would never come back.

"We need to stop at the training lab first though…" Kai hissed as Tala made to turn the corner. The boy looked back confused.

"Why?" They shouldn't have had to. There was no need to stop at the training lab.

"I need to get it…that beyblade…"

"Kai. No." Tala hissed. He was met with a fierce glare.

"Luka. I need that blade."

"Kai…you can't control that thing. It's too strong for you. You already have Dranzer, you don't need her sister."

"Are you going to leave with me tonight or what?"

"I will, but we can't stop-"

"We stop for the blade or we don't leave at all." That settled that, Tala nodded meekly and looked away, his face grim. He didn't look at all pleased with the situation, but Kai couldn't care less.

Night fell, and it was easy enough to cut through the lock with their blades. They pushed their door open and stepped into the hall, following the memorized pathways to their friends' doors. Opening them up the group set out, heading towards the training lab in silence. The Demolition Boys were in agreeance with Tala. They didn't want to do the pit stop, but nobody complained when Kai threatened to stay behind. No one would willingly leave their friend behind.

They broke into the lab, and quietly stood on the side lines while Kai reached up. He was almost too short to make it, but he got it after a while, his hands just teasing the blade from its launcher. Letting out a sigh of relief the boys glanced towards the window they broke. They needed to get out before someone saw the damage.

Kai though, his eyes were locked on the blade. He couldn't move them away from it. He was completely and totally entranced by it. His body was shaking with the idea of launching it. He was lost to the blade's power and he wanted to feel it. He reached for his own launcher…

"Kai! We don't have time for you to launch it, let's get out of here and go!" Tala hissed at his side. He pulled on the boy's shoulder, but the red head was roughly shrugged off. Blade in launcher, Tala screamed for him to stop – it wasn't a good idea! Kai couldn't resist just pulling that rip cord.

He wanted to feel the power that the blade had. He wanted to feel what it was like to be all powerful. If someone was all powerful…they could even bring back the dead…couldn't they? Would he be able to see his parents again?

The blade spun off the launcher, and with it went a blaze of fire. Wide eyes stared at it. He couldn't look away. He couldn't tear his gaze from the fire that was surrounding him completely and totally. He didn't feel the burn. He didn't feel anything. He just saw the flame and saw it make the destruction that he wanted to rein onto the world.

He wanted to destroy it. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted to just get rid over the whole Abbey. He wanted to get rid of Mikhail and his snickering looks. He wanted to get rid of Boris and his fucking three. He wanted to get rid of the dungeons and the prisons. He wanted to destroy the training rooms and the labs and that meant –

"KAI!"

Tala.

He was screaming, ducking under flames as they passed over head. The lab was starting to literally melt from the heat. The inferno was too much to handle. Tala gasped as smoke surrounded his body. The others were screaming loudly, ducking for cover and trying to get away as everything started to fall apart.

"Tala, Kai, let's get out of here, it's gonna blow!" Bryan screamed, as he pushed Ian out of the way from a falling piece of ceiling.

"You get out! I'll get Kai!" Tala yelled back, and when he saw them disappearing into the hall, he concentrated wholly and completely on Kai. The teen was practically in a trance, his eyes blank as Black Dranzer raged onwards. The fire didn't touch him, it almost protected him. Yet Tala knew it wouldn't last for long. "Another fucking overdone chicken to deal with." He muttered quietly under his breath before pulling Wolborg from his case at his belt and launching it into the frey.

The wolf jumped into the air, his powers of ice shooting about and attacking everything that even looked like it was on fire. The camera jiggled as the battle went on, it was starting to get damage from everything that was happening.

The watchers were on the edges of their seat. It was the first time Black Dranzer had ever been in a battle…and it was against Tala of all people. They all knew that the dark version of Kai's bitbeast was far stronger then the wolf, and yet they all found themselves rooting for the white animal as it fought valiantly against the creature of darkness.

Through it all though, Tala made his way to Kai, his hands up and protecting his face from the flames that surrounded him. He stepped through the fire with confident steps, never once flinching if he was burnt in the process. The ceiling above them was falling down, crashing around them as he walked onwards. Kai stood in the middle of it all as though he couldn't see what was happening about him.

Black Dranzer dove down, ready to take down the blader and ignore its challenger. Tala though surprised them all and stood strong, daringly facing off to the beast with his chest exposed and a hell fire in his eyes.

"Come on you overgrown chicken! Let's see what you've got! Wolborg!" The great wolf lunged forward, its jaws crunching down on the phoenix's throat. The bird screamed loudly and tried to get away, but the ice was only melting into water that still doused the fire out. The wolf was gaining ground. "Is that all you've got!? Huh!?"

Cocky to a T, Tala wasn't going to let some _chicken_ take his brother's life from him. He still owed Kai one hell of a bitch slap for all the trouble he caused, and he wasn't going to let some bird ruin that for him. Wolborg lunged again, the blade crashing heavily into the black one.

It struck forward and knocked it into a piece of falling rubble. To everyone who was watching's surprise, at nine years old Tala was facing the demon blade of the world and he was _winning_.

Satisfied that Wolborg had things under control, the redhead continued his trek towards his brother's side. "Kai! Kai!" Tala was ever persistent, and after a long while, he managed to get to his brother's side. He shook him roughly, trying to snap the boy out of it, but there was nothing there. Just blank eyes that didn't even blink away the smoke that stung at them. Finally, and quite irritated, Tala used the boy's taboo in hopes that would wake him up. "Sacha wake up you idiot!"

The punch sent him to the ground, and the fire licked at his body as Kai's hands went to his throat. This time around, Tala got a hand between Kai's and he stopped the strangle hold before it could even start. The younger boy was glaring murderously at him.

"You gonna kill me Kai?" The boy flinched. "Come on. Wake up. You've been in a daze for so long now that it's pathetic. You think that you're the one at fault for all the bad that's been going on lately? Give it a rest you big baby. All you're doing is acting like a drama queen." That earned the redhead a nice punch in the face.

Black Dranzer clawed at Wolborg who retaliated with a claw of its own. He roared loudly, and the whole room started to ice over with his element ready and rearing for action. The blades slashed and crashed into each other, avoiding debris and skipping over rocks. They were furious and they were deadly.

"What, is that your answer for everything? Give me a break, you've done nothing but lash out for far too long and you know what, you're just running away. You're running away from everything that's going on in the real world and you're pushing those that love you away because you're too stubborn to admit you're not superman and you can't do everything by yourself. Cut me some slack bro I know you like the back of my hand. For once, stop running away and ask for help like the person I know you are!" Tala lashed out, punching Kai right where he'd been hit not a moment ago. "Now are we getting out of here or what?!"

The black blade screeched loudly and the whole building shook, and Kai looked around at all the chaos as though he was seeing it for the first time. Horror flooded his veins as he met Tala's eyes. He pushed himself to his feet and Tala called back Wolborg, catching it and putting it back in its pouch where it belonged.

Then the two took off, making the exit they should have made a long time ago. The ceiling collapsed in the training lab just as they made it out the door. They were running down the hallway, and behind them was the mighty roar of Black Dranzer. The blade was still spinning and the bitbeast was still looking to kill.

The boys were running as fast as they could, their legs pumping out underneath them. They didn't bother about traps or setting off alarms, they just needed to get out of the building before it collapsed right on their heads! They ran faster and faster, moving as quickly as their bodies willed them to move.

They were almost to the courtyard; Tala could see it right in front of him. He laughed slightly; he could hardly believe he made it. He turned his head back to see how far behind Kai was, the slate haired boy was right on his heels, but a look of horror suddenly crossed his face.

"Luka no!" The redhead had stepped right under a falling archway. Running faster then ever before Kai caught the boy and shoved him, both landing heavily with a thud, Kai's head cracking painfully against the ground. His vision faded and everything went black. The screen stared at the two unconscious nine year olds buried underneath the archway. The only witness to where they were, and with Kai's consciousness, Black Dranzer fell.

The screen faded, and the date appeared. It was three months later.

The abbey was being rebuilt, and Tala was watching it happen. He was staring at it blankly, all around were students marching and training in the courtyard or going to their lessons. Appearances needed to be maintained after all. A car pulled up in front of the abbey, and Voltaire stepped out. He moved towards the redhead who straightened his posture upon seeing the man.

"Ah…Tala…how are you doing today?" He asked as he gave the boy a once over.

"Fine sir, and you?" He was looking at the man sternly, clearly wondering what he was doing here.

"I'm well, I was hoping to catch a word."

"A word sir?"

"Yes…it's about Kai." Instantly the boy's demeanor changed.

"How is he? Is he doing alright? Are his legs getting better? What about-"

"One question at a time child!" the man laughed though. "He's doing…well. We got him to move around a bit yesterday, and today he's in that sunroom of his just staring outside as though it were the most interesting thing in the world to look at." Tala smiled. He knew just what the man was talking about. "I'm sorry we haven't let you go and see him before now…it's just…well…there are some things that are very touchy with him…I'm not quite certain how far it extends to…and I would like for you to go and speak with him."

"Truly sir?" The redhead seemed to miss the hesitation in the question, and the man noticed it too, but he didn't comment any further, he just nodded slowly.

The next scene was in Voltaire's mansion.

Kai was staring outside, humming an old lullaby as he watched the birds twittering about on the branches. It was an eerie song, but it fit the scene well. A bandage was wrapped around his head, and he looked to be seated in a wheel chair.

He was dressed in pajamas but despite all that, the face paint remained. The door opened to the room, and his red eyes moved slowly towards it. Tala stood there- face beaming with delight at seeing the other boy. He rushed forward, excited and to happy to stay still. He hurried closer and closer, taking in the injuries that still were healing.

"Kai I've missed you so much, they're rebuilding the Abbey after that stunt we pulled. Everyone's still there, but things are such a mess that everything's kind of on stand by. We're-"

"Who are you?"

Red eyes held no trace of recognition. There were no signs that Kai had any idea who Tala was, let alone what he was talking about. The redhead had stopped soundly in his tracks. His mouth fell open. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Even the watchers were stunned. After everything that had happened, after all the words that Tala had told Kai about not running away and facing everything. After all the events that had transpired…Kai could not remember his brother or the Abbey. He couldn't remember them.

Voltaire stood in the doorway, his eyes filled with sorrow. One thing was clear though, he had wished fully and completely that Kai had remembered Tala as he obviously couldn't remember anything else.

"Kai…don't you remember me?" The redhead's hands were shaking just as his world was spinning faster and faster out of his control. Kai didn't seem to notice though.

"I'm sorry…I don't know who you are…could you leave…?" The redhead nodded, he didn't know what else to do.

"Yeah…sure…feel better…" He whispered as he turned and started to walk back towards his grandfather.

He made it strong until he got to the door. After that, he collapsed into bitter tears filled with broken promises. The boy was horrified. He was terrified. He was lost. He was broken. He had been shattered.

To the watchers it had been an extraordinary turn of events. They couldn't believe that Kai, whose clear bond with the redhead had been astronomical through the many years of footage, had forgotten his companion after everything that had happened. He had been completely lost and away from Tala for so long, and now that they were finally able to be together again, it was ruined.

Tala had said nothing to Voltaire as he was being brought back to the Abbey. He didn't say anything as he slipped out of the car and walked stonily inside. There was no communication in the slightest about how they'd originally planned to steal Black Dranzer and run away from the Abbey. He didn't say how he hated it there.

He didn't say a thing, and Kai? He just sat in the mansion, staring outside. He didn't seem to recognize even the room around him. He was quiet and withdrawn and he spoke to no one.


	6. Deciding Factors

**Windstar: **Thanks for all the great reviews, I hope you all like this!

**Disclaimer: **See chapter one

**Chapter Five: **

There was a girl sitting across from Kai, probably about the same age as him, nine. She had brown hair that went to her shoulders, and she wore dirty jeans and a ratty sweatshirt. She was sitting cross legged, and from where Kai sat – throned on his wheel chair as though he could preside over all before him – she looked little more then a beggar.

"Who are you?" Kai's voice was soft and tense, the same as it had been with Tala the scene before. He appeared to have no idea what the girl was doing, and it unnerved him a little. She tilted her head to one side in an _oh so familiar_ manner that sent chills down the boy's side. Her eyes narrowed, and her face wrinkled in confusion.

"I don't speak Russian." English. Pure and simple and without any subtitles she spoke clear as a bell in English. All-american accent from the north east of the United States meant she wasn't from England, and from the state of her clothes it was clear she wasn't anyone important. Kai raised an eyebrow but answered back in his own unaccented English.

"Who are you?" He repeated the question so she could understand it, and she nodded slightly.

"Anna Ottilia." She replied simply. "You?"

"Kai Hiwatari…isn't that an Italian name?" He questioned skeptically.

"Isn't that a Japanese name?" She snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.

"My Grandfather-"

"Mr. Voltaire?"

"Yes, he's half Japanese."

"So you're a quarter?"

"I suppose." He raised a hand to his head, as though to ward off some form of headache. The girl looked over to the door for a moment, perhaps expecting someone to enter. When nobody did, she shrugged and scooted closer.

"What happened to your legs?" She asked as she motioned to the chair he sat him.

"Building collapsed on me." He replied, sighing ever so slightly and angled his chair (pointedly) away from her. She didn't seem to pay it any mind though and she quickly scooted in front of him.

"Why?"

"It was on fire, now what are you doing here?" He was annoyed, and she wasn't helping him in the slightest. She looked hurt, her eyes going to the floor as she seemed to mull over just why exactly she was there.

Compared to the richness of the mansion, she looked sorely out of place. Her clothes were not the fine material that adorned the slate haired boy, and her language certainly suggested she belonged (at best) elsewhere. Yet there she was, annoying him and he wasn't pleased with it.

"I thought you could use a companion as you healed." Voltaire had stepped into the room, walked towards his grandson who looked back at him, clearly irritated. The man just smiled brightly and pulled a chair over to sit next to the two children. "She's been quite ill for some time now in the North Wing. She felt better so I suggested she come down and say hello."

"And what's she doing here?" Kai snapped, face looking anything but amused at the idea of being anywhere near the girl.

"Oh a plane incident, she'll be staying with us until further notice, so I suggest you be nice to her." Then, in Russian, subtitles and all, the man continued. "Her parents left her behind two weeks ago and they want nothing more to do with her. In a country where barely anyone speaks English she stumbled into me near death and begging for something to eat. I'm not about to send her back in the cold so mind your manners and be polite _boy_." Kai's face softened and he nodded slightly.

It seemed though, that he was just happy that he had no former connection with the girl. He seemed far more accepting then he was before when Tala had walked in and claimed to have known him. In fact, when he turned back to the girl who was looking curiously at them, he was drastically different, less stand offish and far more the gentleman.

Voltaire left the two children to their own vices, and returned to his office upstairs. He sat at his desk and he pulled out a folder that was lying on top of it. Opening it up, he stared at the face of his daughter, the lovely woman who had died only a short time ago. Beside her was her husband, and beneath them was a detailed list of their various contributions to society. Their seven orphans that they cared for had been strays and rejects and they were given love and a good family to look after them as they were raised.

That Tala had been adopted too hadn't been much of a surprise. In fact, Voltaire had almost expected it the moment he heard that Aya had taken the boy from the Abbey and brought him home with her. He shook his head ever so slightly at his daughter's obsessive love for children.

Turning the page his eyes narrowed at the police report in front of him. It was about the crash. The words were intelligible, but there were various photos that popped out from the page, particularly when he laid them out on his desk. The car had been rigged.

The seat that Aya Ivanov had been sitting in literally ejected her from the car. There were hinges on the bottom that flew her through the windshield on purpose. She may have survived if she had remained in the vehicle, and yet she had been purposely thrown out of it. The crash site showed no signs of the breaks ever being hit, yet the police swear that the man was pulled from the car, his foot stuck on the breaks. They had been disengaged somehow, and yet the car was brand new and had managed to drive all over town that day before returning home.

Machines and contraptions appeared all over the report, all of them eerily familiar. All of them looking exactly like the mechanical work that was involved in the research and development at Bio-Volt. Anger coursed through the man's veins. The police report was in detail and it explained much of the mystery that had surrounded the crash. Kai in the middle of the road would not have led to his parent's deaths. They would have swerved, hitting the breaks and managing to get around the boy. It would have been close, but it wouldn't have killed them.

They had been forced to crash though, Kai being the willing excuse. They had been forced to crash and they had been murdered once they'd done so. The old man's hands were clenched furiously as he tried to control his rage. Kai's broken mind and Tala's tortured soul was all the work of his own corporation…or rather the man who was overseeing his own corporation.

To what end though? To have the boys back in the Abbey? Voltaire almost was ready to march down there and find Tala- pulling him out before it led to his death as well. He looked to his phone though…something had to be done about all of this. Something had to happen to stop everything from going farther out of control, he needed proof and evidence, and it had to be enough to put the man down for life. There had to be enough proof to end Boris Balkov forever. If he didn't, then all the crimes would just get repeated, and all the work would be for nothing.

He reached for the phone and he dialed a number, waiting as the rings filled the room. The language had switched to Japanese, and the Bladebreakers leaned in, easily able to understand the language they'd perfected themselves with.

"Yes, this is Voltaire Hiwatari, how do you do Mr. Dickenson?"

The scene faded to black and when it came back, Tala was standing in the office. There was another man there, tall and dark haired. He wore a suit and he appeared to have the aura of knowing everything that went on around him. He was at perfect ease in the room and he was just as much a visitor as Tala. Voltaire was sitting at his desk, his hands folded in front of him as he looked at his adopted grandson.

The boy was standing with his back straight, hands folded behind his back. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and though some of his bangs lingered – they did nothing to hide a long cut that was traveling into his hair line. His clothes were that of the Abbey, the uniform that was expected to be worn by all of the higher leveled students. His eyes were sharp and his face stony. The perfect soldier raised in the Abbey. The perfect prodigy of BeyBlading that Voltaire had initially wanted to have, and yet now was deeply regretting it.

The boy barely even looked like a child any more. He was stern and stony and he had the maturity of a forty year old. He was trained to be quiet and not to speak unless spoken too, and he had the power and charisma to quiet a room with a glance. He was simply the perfection that would have made any army officer proud. It was too bad he was only ten.

"Tala, this is Tristen Michaels of the International Security Agency. Mr. Michaels, this is Luka 'Tala' Ivanov…my grandson." The man nodded politely to the child but said nothing more, and the same respect was given by the redhead to him. Voltaire sighed slowly yet surely. He could practically feel the dislike pouring from the boy.

"What's he doing here?" Tala asked at long last, his voice low and sharp. He didn't like the man at all.

"Some news has come to me over the recent months that involve that of the Abbey…in particular Boris. Tala nodded slowly, his eyebrows rising ever so slightly as he waited for the old man to continue. "How much are you aware of exactly what's happening in there?"

"Sir?"

"Do you know what Balkov is up to?" Michaels this time, and blue eyes glanced over to him.

"I know that he's been training us more and more as soldiers then as Beybladers lately. Everything from the intense training hours down at the stadium to our workouts have been modified. We've been having gun training exercises on how to shoot appropriately, and our knowledge on vehicles has been increasing daily. More mechanical work has found it into our daily regiments as well; combined with the continual modifications on our blades to make them attack stronger and faster then ever before, it's almost as though he's preparing us for a war sir…not a championship title." Tala was quick and professional, his attention didn't waiver in the slightest.

Michaels nodded, crossing his arms over his chest he looked away from the boy as though he were deep in thought. Voltaire himself was speechless. He looked at his hands and he appeared to be at a loss as to what it was he was supposed to be doing. Tala glanced at them both in curiosity.

"What's going on?" He asked, sounding more like a child then he'd looked like all the while. It was Michaels who answered.

"Boris Balkov is a first rate criminal whose case has been under my jurisdiction for a while now. He's been around for a while now. I've got him wanted on three charges of murder, twelve accounts of assault, four hit and run tickets, two counts of grand theft auto, and the list goes on. He's one of those men that's just rotten to the core and there's no way around it. The only problem was that he had no money to plot out his dealings which is why he contacted your grandfather.

"If there's one thing I can give Boris credit for, he can talk better then any other man on the planet. It was easy for him to convince your grandfather here to support and fund his experiments. He's been planning this for a while now. With money and power at his finger tips he could create the army he's always longed for that could instate him into an even greater position of power.

"Or sources tell us that Balkov wants to create an army using creatures called bitbeasts to take over the world. His plan is to raise so called genetically perfect human beings that can control these bitbeasts, and use them too slowly yet surely attack towns villages and governments until the end result is him being instated into power. By the end of his tirade, millions of people will die. Billions if the world fights back harder then he intends.

"The fact that he's slowly begun to actually begin training you for such training is just another tip of information on how far things have gotten." Michaels paused, his hand rising to his head as he looked like he was contemplating what else to say.

"Alright…so you have him. You know where he is, and you know where to get to him. Arrest him and destroy the Abbey, what's the big deal?" Tala asked, his head tilting and his eyes narrowing in thought. He truly didn't seem to understand how everything was actually so much more complicated then that.

"We can't." Michaels sighed.

"Why not?" Tala hissed, glaring at the man.

"There's no evidence. Everything we have is circumstantial, none of it would hold in court. There's nothing that we can do. If we arrest him, then he'd be free again and that would be that."

"So kill him." The boy shrugged and the man actually frowned at him at that.

"We need him."

"For what? You've just said he's got more reasons to be arrested then anyone else in the world, and I can think of a few more things to add to that list of yours right off the top of my head. He's plotting the deaths of millions of people and you just want to let him _live_?" The boy's face was incredulous. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and the man shook his head ever so slightly.

"If he's killed then his research lives on. He isn't alone in the planning of his fiasco, it could happen again and the data he's collected is scattered all over the world. If we kill him now we'll never get to it all and one day it will be uncovered and we'll have to deal with this mess once more."

"So what's your plan? Just watch him until a couple million people are murdered right underneath your noses?" The boy scoffed. He clearly didn't believe Michaels was to smart.

"Actually son, we were hoping you could be of some help." The boy looked back to his grandfather. Voltaire had finally spoken up for the first time in the whole exchange, and it was the first time that Luka could figure why he was even brought in to be involved. "I've spoken with Mr. Michaels, and while he doesn't believe this is the best idea, he does agree it's one of the few options we have at the moment." He paused long and hard and Tala waited for the man to continue though his heart was pounding heavier and heavier as he started to connect the dots. "We would like you to gather information that we could use…something that would make our data less circumstantial and more irrefutable."

"You want me to…_spy_ on Boris?" The boy could hardly believe what he was hearing. None of the watchers could either. They were staring at the shocked look on Tala's face, his eyes wide and it was clear he was fearful of the prospect of spying on the man. After everything that had happened, spying would only get him killed.

"Not just on him…everyone who works at that Abbey wears masks. We can't use any of our video tapes that we have of them because of it. All the child abuse that goes on in that place, all the laws that have been broken in that building are being ignored because all the masks are in place. No one could get arrested because nobody is actually scene. It's all in the air…"

"You want me to go around ripping masks off people's faces and aiming them at the security cameras?" Death sounded immanent there. He was going to get killed and he knew it. When nobody answered he cursed. "You honestly expect me to do that? I'm going to be killed. I may not have the best life right now, but I'm quite fond of the ability to breathe, really, it's something that makes me happy on a cloudy day. If you expect me to actually go in there and start causing trouble, I'll be murdered. I'll end up in one of those graves behind the Abbey and no one will find my body."

"We realize this is a lot to ask of you…"

"A lot to ask of me?! I have enough trouble dealing with my friend slowly yet surely going insane, my other friend not talking to me, my brother not even knowing who I am, and Boris' intense love for all things sadistic to worry about, and now you want to throw in pissing off the guards and make them do something evil with their masks off _on camera_ so that you could arrest them later on down the road. Really? That's not too much to ask of at all!" The sarcasm was dark and biting and the boy's fiery eyes were glaring at them with much hate.

"If you don't do this…we'll never be able to start pinning Boris down. He will succeed. He will manage to do it, we have files that have stated that you yourself are the master already of one of his bitbeasts."

"Wolborg is not a murderer. She wouldn't kill anyone."

"Perhaps…but can you really say that years down the road she wouldn't kill to protect you? Or your friends wouldn't kill others because they've lost all free will-"

"We lost our free will the moment we stepped foot into that Abbey so don't give me that bullshit."

"Luka!" Voltaire hissed, but the boy glared at him.

"Bryan's scheduled to start a course of rage therapy soon. The boy's scared of his own shadow and he's meeker then a lamb, but they're going to put him through rage therapy. They've been trying to turn him into the kind of blader that Sacha and I were; ruthless and uncaring. You've met him. You know what he's like. Do you really think that Boris' version of rage therapy is going to be anywhere near with it should be? We fight for our lives ever God dammed day and you sit there and expect me to do even more, even going so far as to suggest my friends will become the murderers that will start off this world wide massacre."

"Your friends may have it rough now…they may be in a bad situation, but they aren't killers. They aren't bad people…but they will be. You know it too. You know that one day they're going to be hurt so bad that they can't stand it anymore, and they'll snap. It'll happen and you'll be there to see it. One by one they'll kill people just as Boris tells them to do. What then? You'll watch them disappear and you'll watch their innocence die with them." Tala glared hatefully, his eyes burning with a look that was so angry and so pained that Michaels almost felt bad about what he was saying. "Your friends will be tortured…and they're going to snap. You know it just as much as I do. How long does it would it take to break them if that was all Boris had to do to get his way? Even you have cracks."

The redhead flinched slightly, looking down and clenching his fists. He was cracked all right, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still the person that he knew he was. He was still a good person. He knew that down in his heart, and so were his friends, and he wouldn't see them get tortured and turned into little murderers for Boris. With that, he turned on his heel and started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Michaels asked; his voice aloof as the pale hand touched the handle.

"Back to the Abbey, to get your God dammed evidence."

"We'll be watching the security feeds."

"I'm so glad I get to be the main character in your fucked up movie, do I get a multi-million dollar pay check too?"

"No, but you'll get a badge. This mission you've just accepted is in correlation with the BBA's Secret Service. You've just been inducted into both ranks as a junior field member."

"I'm so proud. Happiest damn moment of my life." Tala pushed the door open and walked out, slamming it with a close behind him.

He was seen opening the door to the mansion to step outside next. A ball was thrown forward though at an impossible rate of speed right for his head, holding a hand up with lightening reflexes he caught it before damage could be done. Blinking at it in confusion, his eyes scanned the yard before him.

Not to far out, were the figures of Kai and a young girl. They were looking over to him and it seemed like he had caught their source of entertainment. Kai was standing stiffly, the first time (it seemed) since he'd graduated out of his wheel chair. His legs held him awkwardly, and he was still frightfully thin and pale, but he looked better now that he was outside and standing.

"You're supposed to catch it Anna. Not let it hit Grandfather's visitors." Kai mumbled, hands stuffing themselves in his pockets. She glared hatefully at him before looking back at Tala curiously.

"Hey! Bring ball here!" She called, waving her hand in the air. Tala smiled ever so slightly. Trust Kai to use a game of catch to tease someone. He knew quite well that the girl would never have been able to catch the ball at the speed he'd thrown it at; Kai had done it simply to mess with her. Tala tossed it slightly in the air before walking forward, carefully treading closer to his brother and wondering what he'd say to him.

He looked the girl over, plain and simple nothing important about her looks. She spoke _awful _Russian too. He shook his head at the horrible words that she had attempted to say to him. American. He decided after carful investigation. In English, he responded.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on." Walking closer he inspected Kai better. He was shaky on his legs but he seemed to still possess that undying loathing of being treated like an infidel; that independent nature causing him to stubbornly stand up even if he could barely do so. Same old Kai. He lobbed the ball up for the girl to catch, and she did.

"Who are you?" She asked in slightly better Russian then she'd managed before. She was dreadfully slow at it, but it was better then the broken phrase she'd shouted earlier.

"Just someone close to Voltaire." He shrugged. He glanced over to Kai who looked inquisitive. It seemed like he just recognized that he was the same boy from several months ago

"Oh, I thought maybe you were a friend of Kai's but I guess he really doesn't have any." Instant dislike flooded Tala's body, his eyes hateful as he stared at the girl. Kai too was glaring at her furiously.

"I do so have friends!" The boy snapped back at her, his red eyes blazing.

"Then where are they? In all the months I've been here I haven't seen them once!" She said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"They're away at school!"

"How come you don't go to school too?" Tala glanced over, ready to hear the flamed response.

"Because I've got a tutor that's ten thousand times better then their school!" Wasn't that the truth? You couldn't find a worse teacher then Boris Balkov. No one else would have the three. No one else would have a secret plot to take over the world or destroy it all at the same time. No one else would train someone to be a soldier and a world champion all at once. Tala smirked.

"Then name me one of your friends. Go on. What's their _name_?" She was battling back at him with just as much intensity and Kai flared with the hate of an inferno.

"Luka!" Tala's eyes widened, his breath hitched. He felt his head spin. Kai remembered? He looked at the slate haired boy who was staring at him as though he would have something to say about his claim. Tala couldn't speak though. His heart was pounding to heavily in his ears.

Kai had just yelled out his name. He'd known his name. That meant that he remembered! The boy was staring unabashedly towards him, and he was smiling broadly back. The world was smiling all at once and Tala felt his heart sore. It truly was a beautiful day.

"You made that up!" The girl cried. Tala laughed slightly. She had no idea how close to the truth she actually was. Kai though was unperturbed. He raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Tala who grinned brightly back. The girl stamped her foot in annoyance, and he looked towards her.

"I did not!"

"Then who is she?" Tala almost giggled at that. It did sound like a feminine typed name. What _was _Sacha thinking when he called him that?

"_He's_…" Silence. With each second that marched onwards Kai stared blankly at the two of them. He looked without seeing, not really there but more in his mind as he tried to work out just who this Luka person was.

With each passing second Tala felt his heart break. More and more, his heart was shattering. Kai couldn't remember him at all. He didn't know who he was. He just could recall the name, which was something to be honest, but it wasn't enough. Kai was still so blank on that front.

"He doesn't exist!" The girl decreed, and even Kai looked defeated at that. He was so lost looking, as though he couldn't work out just what had happened there. He had been so confident that his friend had existed…but now he wasn't sure at all. Now he was confused and lost just as he had been earlier.

"He does exist." Tala said as he took a step forward. Kai looked up, meeting his gaze. "He's your brother." The boy's mouth fell open very slightly. "You two were very close friends once."

"Who are you? You didn't tell me your name the last time you were here." To tell or not to tell. The redhead smiled fondly at his friend. To tell him who he was, _was_ important. It was something that would mean a lot to him, but he knew already what would happen.

"My name is Tala." Not to tell was better. "I'm…very close to Luka." Kai nodded slowly, believingly.

"I apologize for my behavior earlier…I was feeling rather unwell that day."

"It's fine, there's been no harm done."

Tala wanted to just tell him what happened. He wanted to do something, anything, to have Kai look at him and remember him. He would go to the ends of the Earth if Kai would know just who he was. Yet those red eyes stared at him unflinchingly, and they did not recognize the boy that he was.

The girl moved forward, a smile on her face. She slipped her hand into Tala's and the boy jumped in surprise. Unused to the kind touch of another, he stared at her warily as she smiled brightly up at him.

"Hey, want to play ball with us?" The boy opened his mouth to reply, he wanted to…but he had somewhere else to be. He needed to be heading back soon or Boris would be angry. He didn't want to deal with an angry Boris today, not after everything he'd learned.

He shook his head and removed his hand from her, missing the contact almost instantly. She wasn't that bad…just annoying, but Kai certainly seemed to care for her on some degree. Tala sighed and took a step back, looking at the two free children with a sad expression.

"I have to return to the Abbey, but I'll be around." He said at long last. "What's your name?" He asked, motioning to the girl. "How old are you?" He asked as an afterthought.

"I'm Anna, and I'm twelve years old!" She announced proudly, smiling brightly at him. He stared, mouth open in shock. He was banking on ten, _maybe _nine. She was tiny and did not look anything like the great burling figures of Spencer and Bryan who were the closest of their group to twelve. Even Kai looked stunned. She frowned, noticing their shocked looks. "How old are you two?" The topic clearly had never come up. Kai was an idiot, what _did _he talk to Anna about anyway?

"Ten." They replied in unison, and Tala smirked over at his brother who grinned ever so slightly back.

"Well it's been a pleasure Anna. I'll see you two around then." Tala shook his head; it really was time to go. It broke his heart to turn away from the two and start towards the car that was waiting to bring him back to the hell that was his home. He fought against tears to keep himself standing proud. He could feel Kai's eyes boring into his back behind him. He knew that he would falter if he looked back.

A voice called out to him though, and he could hear shifting. Anna had been told to stay behind while Kai shuffled up to stand by his side. Tala's heart beat painfully in his chest. He couldn't stand looking at that unfamiliar look in his brother's eyes. He couldn't meet the boy's gaze without feeling his world shatter once more all around him.

"You mentioned the Abbey the last time too…you live there right?" Kai's voice was soft and floaty, but Tala nodded none the less. "Is Luka there?"

"He will be in about half an hour." The boy replied honestly. Kai nodded and they kept walking

"…why do I feel like you're going to do something that I won't like?" Tala paused at that. He looked over at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you know who I am?" He was prepared for it. When those slate bangs shook with the boy's head as he signed no. He had been prepared. Kai looked up at him innocently, trying to work out the fog of his mind. "Then why should it matter if I did something you didn't like?"

"I just feel like…you're not going to come back the same way." Tala snorted, no, he'd probably be back with more scars. "That you're going to do something stupid."

"Well I always do end up in the worst trouble!" The redhead laughed.

"Promise me you'll come back safe…"

It was the strangest thing in the world to be standing face to face with someone who didn't even know who he was and yet wished for his safety so honestly. Kai's red eyes were staring into Tala's blue ones. They were anything but insincere. The boy looked truly worried about Tala. He was concerned.

Tala just smiled though. Kai would never know why he was concerned. He would never know the relationship that the two of them had, or understand why Tala was going to do that stupid thing that Kai didn't want him to do. Tala was doing this for his brother on the outside. The boy had such a strong spirit that if Boris came forward with an army of bitbeasts, he could already see Kai standing proudly against the wave.

He could see Dranzer soaring high above the sky, her fire shooting through the air and taking down blades one at a time. He could see the blue blade shooting forward attacking and defending, Kai standing before the army ready and willing to die for he would not surrender. Kai would never back down from a challenge, it wasn't his way.

So Tala was going to do that stupid thing. He was going to spy on Boris. He was going to put himself willingly and cheerfully through the torment that was aimed for him and he wouldn't complain. He wouldn't complain at all, because he loved his brother just as he loved his friends and companions at the Abbey.

Ian, Bryan, and Spencer would risk their lives just as much as he would, Tala knew this. So he was ready and willing to stand before Boris and lie through his teeth. He was ready and willing to defy all odds and show that son of a bitch the truth. It was the rules of the three.

To be on the three you had to do something wrong. To be on the three you had to have done something for someone else. To be on the three it was sacrifice. Tala would do something wrong. He was doing this for his friends, his family, his loved ones. He was doing this for the world. He was doing this for the people he didn't even know and the children that he would never meet. He was doing this for a future he probably wouldn't see. He was doing this for a past that had been ruined and destroyed by the darkness that was Balkov Abbey. Tala was doing this, because he was the sacrifice. So he would go on the three, and he would smile.

"Next time I'm around…I'll bring your friends with me." He didn't even know if he could keep that promise, but he was willing to try. He was willing to at least attempt to bring the three Demolition Boys with him.

Kai smiled back, clearly pleased with that. He stopped as Tala made the final few steps towards the car and opened the door to slide inside. Tala turned back to look at his brother, he was staring at him with such an expression. The boy looked at him with eyes that seemed to call to him in wonder.

"Will Luka come too?" Tala's heart burned. He couldn't deny the longing that was on his brother's face. He couldn't deny anything, so the boy just nodded numbly.

"I promise you, he'll be with me." Kai nodded and Tala closed the door.

"Bye…" And the car left. Driving away and going forth into the darkest of days for Tala while Kai stayed behind unknowingly.

The watchers watched on in morbid fascination. On one hand they were so thankful that Kai had nothing to do with the dangerous work that Tala was about to begin. Yet on the other hand, it was supremely obvious that the redhead was soon going to start going under. He wouldn't be able to handle the stress that was going to bubble up and take control of his body. He wouldn't be able to deal with it at all.

Already cracks had formed on the boy in the past, and it was a simple matter of pressing harder and harder at those cracks until eventually the boy would shatter just as Kai had. Would he loose his memories of the past? Would he break down and try to destroy the Abbey which had caused him so much pain? Would he run forward and attack again and again at those who had beaten him beyond all repair? The watchers didn't know, and they were slowly realizing that they were fearful to know.

The Tala they knew now was heartless and cold. He didn't look like the kind person that he always had seemed to be when he spoke with his friends and companions. Yet the simple dealings with Michaels had been enough to show the seeds that had grown into the perfect soldier that Tala was now. He was heartless and uncaring and he fought viciously and without care.

He was not the boy who cursed and struggled and acted like a child soldier, an _infant_ry member. He was a child even though he was a soldier trained to fight and kill with perfection. He was not ever going to be a normal boy, but he was fighting so hard to become one. He was struggling for so long to have a world that others could live in. That was his dream.

Now…could they really consider him forfeiting the championship as evil? Could they consider his losing as wrong? He had saved the world. The thing he had strived to do for six years he had done successfully.

Already starting to change their minds about the boy and his team, the movie continued, and the watchers watched on. Their eyes glued to the TV as more scenes proceeded to play.


	7. On The Three

**Windstar: **Well this is the longest chapter so far, over nine thousand words. It's certainly turning into quite the feat trying to get everything just right. This begins the main arch of the story, now that the prologue is done and the background is set I can move on to the true plots failures and triumphs of our characters. This chapter in particular is very violent. I repeat **very violent**. This is a warning to all readers. There may be some things in this chapter that are particularly hard to digest, especially for the less then iron clad stomach readers. I hope you all enjoy, and have a great day. Thank you to all the reviews, I truly appreciate it. I'm about two chapters ahead in writing this story, and I'm hoping to finish this before I graduate this June. It's going to be rather long, considering I'm still stuck around age ten. There's a long way to go yet. I hope you're all buckled in and ready for the ride.

Also, to the three people who reviewed this story : marishka91, Repunzelle, and FallenHope-Angel

I dedicate this story to you since you three have been the most consistent of my reviewers.

**Disclaimer: **see chapter one

Thank you to all and I hope you enjoy this chapter:

**Chapter Six:**

Nothing happened all week. For an entire week nothing happened. Training went on schedule, and lessons continued. The children of the Abbey worked hard and fast and they memorized new skills each day. There was no time for a mistake, and so they fought with each ounce of energy that they possessed.

Ian was particularly good at using a sniper rifle. Go figure. The smallest member of the newly formed Demolition Boys was also the one with the biggest gun. Someone was overcompensating just a little bit, and he experienced no small amounts of teasing because of it.

The boys practically lived for target practice where they could rile Ian up with simple jokes about height. It was simple for them, and it was oodles of fun. The small child glared hatefully at them biting insults back and hissing snide remarks, but the others didn't care. They just continued laughing hysterically at the fact that he was obsessed with his…big gun.

Spencer took to the shot gun. Not surprising though, he was a big boy and he could handle the recoil like nobody's business. He easily took aim and peppered the target sheet with his pump action, and he had no problem causing messes with the pellets that flew everywhere.

Wisely though, the others did not poke fun at his lousy aim that caused him to prefer the shot gun. He couldn't shoot a pistol for his life, and even a stabilized sniper rifle was always off target. The blonde literally could not shoot a gun even if his life depended on it. The shot gun was the preferred weapon by far. He didn't need to be a good shot to actually hit something with it.

Bryan and Tala both favored pistols though. Dueling pistols, long range pistols, Desert Eagles, glocks, they loved them all and they flourished perfectly on the Range. Bryan could easily hit a head shot any time he wanted too, and he was a fairly decent draw too. He could pull the gun up, aim and fire in mere seconds and it was astounding to see how graceful he was with the weapon.

Tala though, he did everything Bryan could do in seconds, in milliseconds. He fired so soundly and so quickly that his shots rarely ever missed direct center of the target. He could fire so perfectly that the bullet would sail through the same hole he'd shot through at over a hundred yards. He could shoot without any use of a scope and barely without looking. Moving targets were easily brought down and it wasn't long before he made a name for himself as a phenomenal marksman.

Lessons in martial arts proved similar. All the boys were around equal. They were masters of throwing body weight and punching faster and harder then anyone around, and yet for some reason Tala always was slightly better. He was always above and beyond them. He hit limits that some people only dreamt about. He was just that amazing at what he did.

He moved with a grace that was uncanny. His body was fluid and his strikes were stiff. He easily turned and moved out of the way when he was being attacked. He moved without thinking and without reservation, and his katas were perfect and flawless with a movement that was unbeatable. He was unsurpassable.

It was amazing.

They took Bryan all the time though. Taking him away after lunch and bringing him back just when they were supposed to spar. For the first few days he was quiet, perhaps slightly more twitchy then normal. Then though, the real change started. The quiet and yet enthusiastic boy suddenly became more and more agitated more often. He was angry and violent all at once and then calm moments later. The mood swings were moving faster then the movements of a pendulum and it sent his team mates bonkers at time. None more then Tala who was suddenly Bryan's eternal rival.

Every time Tala preformed a feat that was impossible, Bryan angrily tried to copy the actions. He would watch the redhead's every move. He would stalk his footsteps and he would struggle each day to do what Tala had done. The impossible gun shots were the first on his list, to beat him in a sparring match was the second.

It was during a martial arts lesson though, that Bryan finally lost it. He turned on Tala who was politely bowing to him to initiate the sparring session, and he went instantaneously for the throat. The boy was well used to that attack by now though, and side stepped it, tripping the lilac haired blader and punching him heavily in the shoulder.

His blue eyes widened in shock though when the falcon carrier turned about despite the harsh punch and tackled him to the ground. Tala quickly threw his opponent off of him, rolling to the side and getting back up on his feet. His hands were out in front of him as his eyes watched his teammate's behavior. The boy was fighting like a thug, not the well trained warrior that he usually held himself to the standard of.

Suddenly he was running again, fists flying and feet sailing. Tala blocked with everything, knocking the leg to the side, ducking the punch to the head, raising a leg up to ward off a kick to his mid section. He parried and moved away from as much as he could, never having the chance to attack his aggressor. Bryan was moving in an intangible rage, throwing himself at the redhead with means to kill.

The guards were doing nothing to stop the fight that was slowly getting out of control. Tala moved away from the on coming attacks the best he could, and attempted to strike back, but he was getting pushed farther and farther away from Bryan as more and more attacks came barreling towards him. In all honesty though, Tala was purposefully not using strikes he knew that could break through Bryan's rampage.

He knew every place on his friend's body that there was an injury. He knew every place that there was the chance for something to go wrong. He knew countless attacks that could snap Bryan's arm like a twig, and he refused to use them all. He would not use attacks that were purposefully going to harm his companion, and because of that he kept getting closer and closer to getting struck heavily.

From out of nowhere Bryan had a knife, and before Tala even could register that his friend was actually going to use it on him, it sliced into his hand like butter. Blood spurted everywhere and Tala hissed furiously. The attack had been towards his throat, but he'd raised his hand just in time to ward off the blade. Any closer and he would have died.

"Bryan. Get a hold of yourself." He snapped as the knife became his only focus. Bryan would kick and stab at the same time. Tala was being forced to block the knife to be struck by the leg. There was no other option. One would kill him and one would just bruise. He wasn't ready to die yet. Especially not by Bryan's hands.

A crowd was forming; they were watching the fight with mixes of awe and horror. Bryan was actually going to try to kill Tala, and Tala was fighting completely on defense. The boy was backing away, then ducking rolling and trying to get some more ground between them. Nothing was working though; the other was simply gaining too much ground.

Boris arrived, his face clearly showing how happy he was with the turn of events. Everyone was anxious to see who was going to win, and though Tala had the most skill between the two, Bryan was attacking so often that he was landing cuts all over the redhead with surprising ease.

They were tiring though, and it was obvious too. Tala was slowing down, letting more and more stabs come through, and Bryan was getting more and more sloppy with the blade. If he kept it up, it wouldn't be long before an opening presented itself.

There it was and without even batting an eye Tala's hands shot forward and twisted the knife from Bryan's grip. He kicked his friend heavily in the stomach and then using the handle of the blade he crashed it against his friend's head, dazing him just enough to send him to the ground in a heap.

Silence filled the room at that. Tala's breath was short and uneven. He was trying desperately to keep his wits about him, but it was getting harder as his adrenaline was slowly fading away. He was drenched in sweat, and blood dripped from his wounds. Yet he didn't seem to notice any of that. The only thing that he was looking at was Bryan who was staring up at him with a confused look on his face. The lilac haired boy looked like he honestly had no idea what had just happened, and he was blinking in confusion as he met his friend's gaze.

Boris was irate. The man stormed forward and roughly grabbed Bryan by the collar and wrenched him to his feet. The attack on Tala was fine as long as Tala lost, but he had still one and now Bryan was to be punished for such indiscretions. Panic coated Bryan's face as he was being roughly dragged away from the scene. He was led through the crowd that watched him mutely.

Some sent glances to Tala who teetered ever so slightly before regaining his balance and starting to walk forwards. Everyone was silent as they watched him move. He took one step forwards, then another. He wouldn't allow himself to even think about turning back, his plan had been formulated and now everything was coming together.

He walked forward, moving faster and faster and faster as he left the room; Spencer and Ian at his heels, trying to find out if he was alright. Tala said nothing though. He moved quickly, walking the memorized path to the tower that held so many children's nightmares' captive. He stopped before he ascended, pausing briefly at the staircase. The two boys hesitated at his heels.

"Luka…?" Spencer asked as he looked at his friend's face in concern. Tala wasn't looking at him though. Instead, he was looking right at the camera that was positioned on top of the stairs. His eyes bore into it, as though he could see just who was watching on the other side.

He could imagine Michaels watching this footage after he'd hacked into the system, and Michaels staring down at him as he stared up. The two both knew what was about to happen, and Tala was going to make sure that the man saw everything. The boy turned about and met his friend's eyes coldly.

"Stay here." He commanded; his voice terse as he took a step back turned and walked up the stairs and into the tower. Spencer and Ian stayed behind, confusion flooding their features as they watched their friend's retreating back.

He climbed the stairs slowly, and every time he came to a camera, he looked straight at it with that pompous attitude that clearly pronounced that he was strong and powerful where Michaels was reduced to watching the tape. The arrogance over flowed from the redhead's body, and even though he did nothing for his cuts and he walked with blood dripping from his wounds, he assumed a position of pure and complete power.

It was a sight to behold.

Tala walked forward to the door that led to the three, and he took a deep breath. He centered his thoughts, and with a great deal of energy, he shoved the door open roughly and with as much arrogance as he could muster.

There Bryan stood, his hands just about to be strapped down, his eyes filled with the tears of a boy terrified of the pain he knew that was coming. Boris stood above him, masked and facing away from the camera. He was glaring angrily at Tala even as Bryan silently begged for help.

"Bryan…go downstairs now." Tala said, his voice commanding and dangerous. He seemed to have dropped the temperature in the room. His eyes were icy cold and for the first time he appeared like the Tala of the future that was cold and emotionless. He looked like he was the cruelest person in the world, and Bryan (in that one moment) was more scared of Tala then of Boris.

He shuffled quickly to Tala's side, glancing at him for a brief moment before rushing down the stairs, ignoring Boris who shouted angrily at him as he fled. Boris was glaring hatefully at the redhead, his modified vis-goggles glimmering in the dark. Tala stepped forward, and shut the door behind him. His very aura exuded confidence, and Boris clutched the whip in his hand.

"What the devil do you think you're doing boy?" Boris asked as he stepped towards him. Tala glanced at the camera, glaring at it for a moment, just to let those who were watching know exactly what he thought about all of this.

To the watchers they could feel the deep breath. They could practically live the moment as Tala prepared himself for the showdown that would end in Boris' unveiling before the camera. They could feel the tenseness in the room, the gasped breaths and the horrified sounds that would slowly be emerging. They could feel what it was like for Tala to face all of his fears and do this for the love of his friends and his hope in the world.

He was about to be horribly beaten, if not killed, just by doing what he was about to do, and he was a hero for doing it. To the watchers, they were all crossing their fingers, hoping to have this done with so that the small ten year old child would not face the dangers and pain that were coming towards him.

"I've been thinking for a long time." He was walking now, around the room, towards the three. "About how you've been treating Bryan…"

"And what gives you any reason at all to come here and try to undermine my authority by-"

"Shut up." The watchers actually hissed at the sound of Tala's voice. He was glaring hatefully at the man before him, and they could hardly believe that such defiance had occurred to save the world.

"What…did…you…say…to me…_boy_?" Boris was seething, his eyes flashing furiously in anger. He looked ready to murder, and Tala had the arrogance to not even flinch in response.

"I said 'shut up.' I'm trying to talk about what've been thinking about, and you decide to interrupt me…now…where was I…" The whip flew through the air, but Tala was ready for it, he blocked with the knife he'd still held from his fight with Bryan and he struck out, perfectly catching the mask with the side of his hand and knocking it from the man's face.

The mask was removed and there was a clear shot straight of his face towards the camera, but Tala didn't even have time to smirk at his success. A kick sent him flying. His hands grabbed the bar three inches up from the ground and he hissed as his ribs ached

The whip was back, and with a prayer to anyone who was listening, Tala gripped the three as hard as he possibly could. The first lash fell over his tense muscles. He gasped loudly, fat tears stinging his eyes. The scene faded with the lash still falling, tactfully appearing after the brutal experience.

Tala lay motionless; his head hung low and touching the ground. His hands were still clutching the three tightly, and his body was most disfigured. The boy's back was bloodied to the point of distraction, his shirt clinging to the wet surface and only showing that signs of infection were going to occur. There were bruises already forming on the boy's face where it appeared he'd been kicked. His knees were drawn to his chest in an awkward version of the fetal position.

Boris stood over him, his eyes dark and glaring. He looked hatefully at the boy with all the will and appearance of a man who had never been talked back to and wanted nothing more then to kill the boy who had done so. The murderous gaze lingered on the boy's tortured flesh. He looked so completely broken as he lay there that it was heartbreaking to see.

The boy was unconscious, his blue eyes closed as he lay still. There was a cut going across them, perhaps the whip had slashed them? Blood slipped down his cheeks and dribbled onto the floor.

Boris swept his mask up from the ground and settled it back into place, with one last kick to the redhead's side he slipped from the room and left him there to bleed. The watchers couldn't believe what they had seen. Tala looked close to death. His body was so pale and so bloody that it was almost a matter of time before eventually it just gave up on him.

Horrified at what they were watching, the scenes started to go through an almost fast forward. Days were slipping by, and Tala barely moved from his position. He lay on the ground, his hand still tightly holding onto the three while his knees were tucked to his chest. Every now and then someone would come in and check his pulse just to see if he was still alive. They would leave soon afterwards without even tending to the rough and angry wounds that adorned the boy's body.

Bryan, Spencer, and Ian were on high alert. They looked like they were edgy all the time. It seemed like they went out of their way to walk towards where the stairs to the torture chamber were. They never went up, just looked up them with forlorn expressions. Nobody had seen the redhead since the day he'd talked back, and the three were getting nervous.

Bryan furiously stormed the halls looking for fights to pick with unsuspecting students. He was more then happy to take out his pent up anger on the people around him. Fist fights were starting with the slightest of offences and Spencer seemed to be the only person big enough and brave enough to pull the boy back with they started to get intense. The slightly younger boy would just glare furiously at the blonde though and storm off without a word, ignoring him and going to find his next tool for his frustrations.

Mikhail ended up being the person he ran into one day, and it looked like a fight between them was inevitable; especially when Mikhail made a crack comment towards Tala and Kai. The boy was pompous and arrogant and he had no remorse. He wasn't all that talented of a beyblader, and Bryan truly couldn't understand why he was there in the first place.

"Rumor has it that Luka got beat cause of you…couldn't take the pressure anymore? You had to get that dumbass Sacha's little whore to play with Boris while you ran off to cry?" Mikhail raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed over his chest. Bryan saw red. He was furious and loathing and he was already more agitated then usual because of the rage treatments he was being given every day.

"Don't you dare talk about them like that…don't you dare." Bryan took a step forward, but Mikhail held his ground. He wasn't going anywhere.

"I don't get it. Really and truly I don't get it. Why do you hang around that loser anyway?" The orphan asked, looking at Bryan with open disdain towards Tala. The lilac haired blader was shaking with fury.

"He's my friend, my brother, and you will not speak badly about him!"

"Yeah, he really seemed like your friend when you were trying to cut him into bits a few days ago. What is it with you and picking fights with people, you act like a crazy person!" Bryan glared hatefully at the boy.

"You don't know anything about me! You're just the new kid here, you've got no room to judge!"

"New kid? I've been here since before the fire, I can't possibly still be the new kid."

"Even so, you're still a fucking brat."

"Why? Because I'm not all gaga over that stupid whore Tala?"

"Quit calling him that!" Bryan hissed, his eyes flaring angrily. Mikhail just waved him off, not really bothering in pay much attention to him.

"What's so special about that kid anyway? He's not very bright, and he has no sense of self-preservation either."

"He looks out for us, just like we'd always look out for him." Bryan snapped, not appreciating Mikhail's flippant way of talking to him.

"So taking your place in a beating was his way of looking out for you? You still got punished; all it got was him to be involved as well. For all we know he's just a fucking masochist and that's how he gets his kicks." Bryan caught Mikhail by the hair and shoved him roughly into the wall; colliding his head with the stone behind them.

"Don't you ever say anything bad about Tala again you worthless maggot."

"Why does everyone practically bow at that little runt's feet? There's nothing all that special about him!" Bryan was shoved back, but that didn't mean anything. Mikhail was immediately thrown back into the wall with a greater force then before.

Bryan was smirking. His eyes glimmered with some unknown quality that sent shivers down the watchers' backs. Rei, who was still healing from his own wounds after his battle with Bryan, in particular felt his heart race. Bryan's history of ruthlessness apparently started at a very young age, and not by his own violation to be honest.

He was pumped full of drugs, beaten, drugged again, and it seemed the system went on until he was slowly yet surely losing that sense of humanity that held him together. Bryan hadn't started out being evil; in fact it was clear from his history that he had actually been rather shy and almost sweet as a child.

He was loyal to a fault, and he had the persona of one who would do anything for his friends. The most recent mood swings had only begun because of the scientists at the Abbey starting their experiments on him. He was specifically being designed to hate and destroy and he was clamping down on the feelings that made him seem even the slightest bit remorseful.

Mikhail, who had little love for his foster brothers, was just antagonistic enough to be able to rile Bryan up. It wasn't all that hard to do since he was slowly developing a rather bipolar way of looking at his life, but the fact that it had been accomplished was more then enough to give cause to fear. He was foolish and he had willingly walked into Bryan's snare, and it wouldn't take much for the falcon blader to attack, maim or perhaps even kill the other.

Yet to the surprise of everyone who was watching the video, Bryan did the exact opposite of attack. He shook his head and calmly started to walk away. He was agitated and still filled with an energy that wanted nothing more then to attack something and destroy it, but he wasn't going out of his way to do so. In fact, he was purposefully avoiding the conflict.

A resemblance to the child of his past was brought to light. Bryan wasn't truly a bad person, and he didn't relish in the thought of hurting others. He didn't hurt people for the sake of doing so, and he wasn't some mass murderer that was hell bent on destruction. He was still the same quiet and sweet child he'd been years ago, he'd just learned how to mask such qualities with an aggressive exterior. Bryan wasn't weak, and he was by no means stupid. He was in many ways just a simple person who was doing the best he could with the cards he'd been dealt.

Before he disappeared down the end of the hall, Bryan stopped. He glanced over his shoulder at Mikhail who had watched him walk off. The brunette was smirking; clearly proud about something or other, perhaps he thought he'd won in their brief confrontation? It didn't bother Bryan either way. He didn't look like he gave a damn.

"I find it hard to believe you actually lived with Luka and Sacha, because after all these years, you still have no idea just what and who they are. Maybe you should actually stop trying to judge Luka and start trying to figure him out."

Spencer had been standing at the foot of the stairs that led up to the three for a while now. He couldn't move from that spot. No one had seen Tala since he'd disappeared up those stairs and Bryan came down them, and speaking of him seemed taboo around the guards. Spencer though, he couldn't shake the feeling that something dreadfully wrong with his friend.

Ian came up to him after five minutes of waiting, and he leaned against the wall across from the stairs. His eyes were hollow, and he looked miserable. By the time Bryan had appeared, Spencer had lost his cool. He took the first steps forward, the others following after him quietly and quickly. They needed to get this over with.

They ascended the stairs quietly and quickly. They hurried to the entrance to the three and they threw it open. Ian gagged at the sight and turned back roughly, hurling gracelessly on the steps below them. Bryan averted his eyes but raised a hand to his mouth as though he too was going to loose his stomach. Only Spencer managed to control the contents of his stomach.

Tala's back had been festering and rotting for so long in the grime and the filth of that room that bugs had gotten into the still open and rotting wounds. There were literally maggots crawling eating away at the dead flesh that had formed over the lashes that were clinging onto the destroyed shirt he was wearing.

The boy's face was deathly pale, and from far away he already looked dead. There were even tinges of blue on his lips. His fingers were bony and white and it hadn't looked like he'd eaten anything since he first went up there. He had soiled himself over the many days and he was burning with a fever.

His face was flushed, his skin was pale. His eyes had rolled back into his head. His clothes were tattered and ruined. He stank like the dead, and the vermin that had taken habitat in his flesh had only instigated further infection that was getting to lethal levels. The whipping alone would have been enough to kill someone, now though the chances of Tala even waking up again were so far out of the realm of possibility that tears were actually forming in even the watchers' eyes (and they knew he was going to survive!)

Spencer shot forward, gently pulling his friend's hands from the three and gingerly checking for a pulse and breath. They were there. He let out a sigh of relief, and then when one of the damn bugs thought to fly off the body of his friend he angrily squashed it with little remorse. There was nothing he could do about the grubs right now. He needed to bring the boy to the doctors and they needed to do their job instead of ignoring him.

Tala barely even noticed he was being lifted away. He was shivering violently from the fever and it seemed like he was going to be on the hardest road to recovery yet. The boy could hardly even be considered alive. Bryan hissed quietly under his breath when he looked at the broken body that was being borne away. He cursed Boris under his breath and followed closely behind Spencer.

Every once and a while a grub would fall from Tala's wounds and Bryan took especial pleasure in stomping on each and every one of them, killing them as they had attempted to kill his friend. They sickened him completely, and the fact that they appeared to have been gnawing at the boy's skin for days only made him feel even more nauseous. Tala would have been to weak and to pained to even think about reaching back to defend his horrible wounds from the creatures.

He was shaking still even now, probably in shock too. His head burrowed close into Spencer's chest and the blonde clutched him close. As they passed students, they looked on in shock and horror. Spencer bore his Captain proudly though. He held his back straight and he did everything in his power to cause the young boy as little pain as possible.

Mikhail passed them on the way, his body stopping in the hall and watching as the four moved passed. He took in Tala's destroyed state and he actually had the decency to flinch and step away to yield more room to the friends. He couldn't tare his eyes from the boy, something…guilty…flashing in his eyes.

"That is the character of someone who you should treat as a hero. He will always be mine. That's why he's my friend." Bryan told him quietly as he walked by, stomping hatefully on another morsel that dared to defile his friend's quivering form.

When he got to the medics he kicked open the door and he lay the boy down on his stomach on one of the beds. One of the doctors dared to yell at him for removing Tala from that room until he'd seen the state the boy was in. They'd be sore pressed if the boy's life had ended after all of that.

The man called over some more help and suddenly the broken body was surrounded by hoards of people whose only responsibility were to keep the boy's heart beating and his lungs breathing. The three boys were slowly escorted out of the room, and they waited patiently in the hall.

They ignored the looks that everyone sent them. They didn't care about the guards that glared at them. They didn't even pay any mind to the fact that every once and a while a guard would get furious with their lingering and strike at them. If anything, it made them all the more determined to stand fast and wait to find out if their friend was going to make it.

Eventually though a medic came out and ordered them to leave as there wasn't going to be any final decision tonight. With the promise that they'd be the first to know if something bad happened the boys went back to their rooms. They walked stiffly and it appeared like they were the lifeless ones as they slunk into their beds.

The next morning they hurried down to where they'd deposited Tala earlier. There was no change and they were still working on him. Ian just managed to sneak in long enough to see that Tala's wounds were getting thoroughly cleansed and that there were no signs of any more creatures living in his diseased cuts. The infections were being treated through an IV line and there was a breathing mask and pulse monitor strapped to the boy's fragile body.

Every day after that there were subtle changes. Stitches were put in as soon as the wounds were clean enough. For once they weren't sloppy and careless and they actually had the hope for healing. The bruises were applied with salve and for apparent broken ribs there was tape. His back was covered in a soothing healing cream and was draped with bandages. His eyes were cleaned carefully and his head was wrapped daintily. The cut that went across them vanished soon after that.

Tala was placed into the green liquid tank once more. The chemicals and vitamins in the water attacked his abused flesh, and they slowly started healing all the injuries that could not be reached by the doctors. When he came out again, his scars were practically completely healed. He would have the lashes on his back for the rest of his life, but his front looked as though nothing had happened to it.

They lay him down on a sterile bed, a white blanket draped over him and his red hair laying around his head in a crown of innocence that did nothing to make him seem any stronger then he was before. He looked so young and so fragile as he lay there in the coma the doctors weren't sure he could wake up from, that his friends found themselves horrified for him.

They refused to let anyone touch him that wasn't supposed to. They threatened doctors and the like to keep guards and especially Boris far away from him, and for once he was afforded a kind and quiet rest. He was so pale and so weak already that the others could barely stand to look at his deteriorated state, but they visited everyday regardless.

It was on one such visit that Boris first showed up in the redhead's hospital room. He stormed in like he was going to start barking orders, and instinctively the three stood before Tala's bed in protective stances. They would not let him hurt the boy any further. They wouldn't let him do anything of the sort. Boris didn't do that though. Instead he walked over and he glanced at the boy's chart. He read over it carefully and then hissed in frustration before shaking his head in annoyance. Looking over at the three he glared.

"You three, prepare yourselves. You will be traveling to Lord Voltaire's estate for a meeting in less then half an hour." The man snapped as he slammed the clipboard back into place. The bed rattled, and the boy on it twitched slightly.

"Sir?" Spencer asked tactfully.

"Your foolish Captain's bimonthly meeting has come up, and as he's…not capable of attending. You three will take his place. Now get read to go. I demand perfect demeanor. Best clothes and attire, there will be no lack of _any_ measures. Do you understand?" The boys nodded slowly yet surely as the scene slowly faded.

Spencer slipped on his vest, taking a deep breath as he came to a rest by his door. He glanced over to his roommate. Bryan was agitated and he was jumpy. He had been having enough problems controlling his temper lately as it was, but after Tala's injuries it had gotten to the point that it was down right deadly to be on his bad side. Unfortunately, everyone was on his bad side lately. Boris in particular. The falcon had been inches away from lunging at the man when he'd dared to step foot into Tala's hospital room, and it had only been Spencer's hold on his shoulder that had kept him motionless.

The order though was unusual to say the least. That they were going to fill in for Tala at his grandfather's meeting was something that would not go unnoticed by the elderly financier of Bio-Volt. So what exactly they were going to say to him was something that was frustrating. Should they tell him just what had happened? Would he do anything? It was by the man's persuasion that had given them bedrooms instead of prison cells to live in, yet the three remained and the training only got harder when the guards and Boris could get away with it.

Tala was in no condition to travel, and his health was shaky at best. The medics were constantly trying to pump nutrition into him, and there seemed to be dozens of changes to the fluids that were being put into his IV. The boy was weak and emaciated and he wouldn't be getting very far in the least if he tried to move by himself, and there weren't any guards that were kept to keep him stationary for that very reason.

Moving Tala out of the Abbey might be as dangerous as the very actions that had caused him to fall ill in the first place. He was in such a fragile state of being that if he was moved the chances were he wouldn't be able to out live the transit. The boys sighed in frustration. Telling Voltaire would do nothing except cause more harm then good. If he asked, they'd figure out what to tell him then. Tala could tell the truth later if he wanted too.

Bryan and Spencer met up with Ian down the hall, and the three made a pit stop by Tala before they were on their way. Tala's eyes were closed as they approached, his breathing mask fogging slightly to show that he was breathing on his own. His hair was tangled and the white shirt he'd been given was resting loosely on his skin. He groaned ever so slightly and turned his head, but other then that was motionless.

Not the acts of someone in a coma like he'd originally been categorized as, and the boys were hopeful. Ian took his friend's hand and gently gave it a squeeze. The fingers twitched in his grasp but Tala didn't wake up. He lay there dozing onwards and that was fine because the boys didn't know how they would be able to leave him if they knew that he was laying awake in bed terrified of the demons that would come for him.

They murmured soft goodbyes, telling his sleeping ears just where they were going and that they would be back shortly. Then, one by one, they slowly started to walk away. They ducked out of the clinic and through the halls. They walked the memorized path to the entrance of the Abbey where Boris motioned them over and shove them roughly into the car that was waiting for them. He barked out some orders to the driver and then he stepped back. The boys left the Abbey compounds, and the screen faded to black.

Back in the Abbey though, not even an hour after the Demolition Boys had left their beloved Captain, Tala's crystal blue eyes opened wearily. He blinked heavily and then hissed as the light of the room screeched blindingly into his eyes. He shook his head, trying to keep himself from being affected by their blaze.

He shivered unconsciously and his hand reached up to remove the mask that was enabling him to breathe. Coughing, one hand rising to his chest, he sat up. A medic was at his side in an instant, stethoscope in hand and sphygmomanometer out and ready for its reading. The boy dazedly stared forward as the doctor did his job, complying unconsciously when he was asked to do something.

Finally the man stepped back and flashed a light into the boy's eyes and the boy flinched, looking away from it. He was asked a few questions, and he blearily muttered their answers. Though after a while he raised a hand to his eyes and rubbed at them.

"What is it?" The man asked, as he tried to get a good look at the boys' gaze.

"Blurry…" Was all Tala replied before shaking his head and blinking a few times.

"What's today's date…?" He asked as he continued to rub his eyes. His hands were slapped out of the way and the doctor tried to look into his orbs to see if he could deduce the cause of the problem.

"The twenty-fifth." The boy hissed in realization and shoved the doctor back, swinging his legs unsteadily out of the bed he stood up. Instantly it looked like he'd crash to his feet as his body twisted and turned and was still unused to standing after laying down for so long.

It didn't stop him. The doctor yelled at him, roughly grabbing his arm and trying to put him back in the bed, but there was a loud growling noise and then an eerie howl before ice shot at the man, sending him flying backwards into the cabinetry. Wolborg had slipped from her blade and she was standing beside her master with a worried look on her concerned face. She rubbed against his leg and the boy blearily leaned on her before taking an awkward step forward and then another and another.

He had hand out, touching the wall next to him as he tried to keep himself upright. He looked like he could barely see two inches in front of his face, and proved it by tripping into a desk. Wolborg though, bit his sleeve and gently started to guide him through the complicated maze of the Abbey. Some students stopped and stared, Tala wandering aimlessly and being led by his bit beast, his eyes blank and unseeing and he was only wearing the white pajama bottoms and t-shirt that was standard for those in medical care.

Strangely enough he didn't pass one guard. It was almost as though they were waiting, waiting to see what would happen. No one said anything as the boy walked stubbornly onwards, his wolf guiding him through the many twists and turns that the Abbey was famous for. Wolborg never once let the boy out of her sight, and to anyone not wise enough to move out of the way faster she growled menacingly towards.

One of his shaky and pale hands was always locked on the fur that was at the base of the wolf's neck, the crystal like wings hitting his back every once and a while and acting as a support and bracer. Giant paws touched down on the floor and she moved stealthily through the building taking the least known about paths towards the outside.

Cool air bit at the seemingly sightless boy, he stumbled to catch himself, and Wolborg hesitated for a moment. She whined, as though trying to see if her pup was alright, and the boy told her he was. He doubted the reassurance meant anything to the wolf who slowed her pace instinctively and leaned closer to him to keep him upright.

"Where…?" He didn't need to finish. The wolf leaned close to his hand, images of the world around them flashing before his eyes. She showed a picture of a mansion, quite and desolate on the outskirts of Moskva. Slowly yet surely the door opened and there standing at the entrance in all his glory was Kai. His back straight, eyes fierce, just as he had been in his prime and before the flames of Black Dranzer had affected his mind. It was a fourty-five minute walk from the Abbey to the mansion. They were on complete opposite ends of the city from each other, but to both Wolborg and Tala, that was safety and that was home. It was his mission and duty to go to that mansion. He had promised to return on the twenty fifth. He had promised, and that's where he'd go.

Wolborg gently led the boy to the entrance, and they easily walked off the grounds. There was no sneaking or skulking or slipping passed security cameras to not be seen, they simply walked off as if they owned the place. There were no guards to stop them there was nothing there that slowed them down. Something that had been attempted by countless students had been done as easily as that. The two just walked off with perfect ease and they made their way down the streets.

The camera was on them until they disappeared, and then it faded to black. It reappeared in the mansion. A different lens, a different angle, it was back in time about half an hour to when the boys apparently first arrived at the building. Spencer was at the door looking awkward and Bryan and Ian were at his sides faring little better.

He raised his hand though and he pressed the bell, waiting to be let in. They had decided not to say anything to Voltaire, that was simply enough done. They could easily prance around the truth and there would be little problems with it. Still though, the blonde didn't like lying, and he was hoping that Voltaire had already been explained the situation by Boris and they wouldn't have to come up with an excuse that made sense.

The door was swung open, and Spencer actually physically recoiled at the sight of Kai standing there, wide eyed with shock. The two stared at each other in surprise, and then red eyes moved down to look at the others, his face taking in the faces of the two behind the burly blonde;.

They were dumbfounded by what they saw, and it was clear that they hadn't been expecting Kai. Tala had last said that Kai didn't even know who they were, that he had suffered from a bad head injury. He had told them over the last time he'd come back though that Kai's memory had been improving.

The watchers themselves had been there to see the signs of Kai starting to regain the lost ground that he'd lost. He'd known about the name Luka, he'd known his connection to it and he didn't seem at all phased by the information that he was his brother. He knew he knew Tala, but he couldn't place where, and though Luka and Tala were the same people that was satisfying in its own right because it meant that slowly the pieces were coming together for the boy.

He knew that he had friends out there. He could feel them in the memories of his heart, and though names and faces had been vague he knew that they existed and he knew that Tala knew them. That was as simple as it got, and as far as he knew he was awaiting his friends return with Tala who was conveniently enough, not there're.

Still, Spencer hadn't been expecting to see Kai, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He'd been far to concerned with the fact that he would be lying to Voltiare. He couldn't believe his eyes when the slate haired boy opened the door and there he was standing there like he owned the place. Well…he was the heir to the Hiwatari fortune. So technically…

"Where's Luka?" Cut off from his musings the blonde blinked. Come again? Red eyes were scanning behind them. The redhead was decidedly missing. Spencer glanced to the other two who were being deathly silent. They didn't say a thing. "What are you doing here if Luka's not here?" Those red eyes were holding their standard stare again, the stare that the former Kai had levied on them multiple times. He was a spoiled brat to be honest, but he was always righteous in the things that he was spoiled about.

The glares and stares that he'd used to send others into submission was only a warning to what he could actually unleash on them should they not cooperate. He didn't like being told no, and he got his way because of it. Yet he only did something if there was a good reason to do so, and with the way he was staring forcefully at Spencer with eyes that were practically commanding him to listen, Spencer suddenly was feeling completely ill at ease.

It was one thing to lie to Voltaire. The man had never done him any wrong, but he'd never truly known him personally. It was another thing entirely to lie clear to Kai's face. The boy would know it was a lie the instant it left his mouth, and to lose the trust of that boy would be enough to make anyone shiver. Kai did not make a good enemy. He made a far better ally if you valued your continual health.

"Kai…"

"Hey don't leave them out in the cold Kai, let them in!" A sweet little voice floated around them and instantly the door was pulled back and the three bladers were ushered inside. Anna was inside, her clothes in a far better state then they'd been the first time she'd appeared.

She looked finely dressed, nothing to expensive though, just like Kai's attire. They were simple and yet clearly well made, and she looked more like the standard middle classed child then the starving street girl she'd appeared like the first time.

"Where's Luka, Spencer?" Kai's eyes were practically glaring at the blonde.

"Kai…you remember-"

"Just tell me what happened to him. Tala did something didn't he? He said he wouldn't…but he never promised really." Kai looked so sad all of a sudden that it broke Spencer's resolve. He couldn't lie to him.

"Luka…Tala…he's not well…" Spencer mumbled.

"What happened?" Anna glanced at Kai, her hand touching his shoulder. She looked worried. Kai was practically shaking with fear, worry…and anger?

"He's…he was helping me with doing something with boris and he got hurt." Bryan whispered. Kai glanced at him, his eyes numb with horror. His hands twitched ever so slightly.

"What'd he do?" Kai looked on the verge of a collapse. Voltaire was slowly walking towards them, watching on mutely. Besides him was Michaels. The man looked vaguely guilty and the watchers all knew why. He had clearly watched the security feed. He had seen what Boris had done and what the after effects had been. Michaels was completely and totally at fault for everything that had happened to Luka and there was no one else, save perhaps Voltaire, who could take the blame for it.

"He took my place." Anna glanced at Kai as he caught his swaying body on the staircase. He looked horrible. His red eyes were wide with panic and his hand went to his chest, his heart clearly pounding harder and harder out of control.

"Kai…?" She moved towards him, kneeling by his side and looking at him with such a gaze. She looked ready to cry as she reached out to touch his face. He was shaking heavily, one hand raising to his head while the other clutched his chest.

"What the hell did you do that made Luka stand in for you, you fuck?" Voltaire took a step forward as though to scold him, but from the look in his grandson's eyes, it appeared like things would only get worse if he tried to get involved.

Bryan was standing strong in front of the fiery gaze of the pheonix's chosen, but in a fight it would come down to just how it had with Tala. Bryan was good, Tala was better. Tala was great, Kai was legendary. The two would beat Bryan in any competition he owned, there was just nothing he could do about it.

The phone was ringing, and Voltaire glanced back, sighing he went to pick it up while the conflict only seemed to grow more and more. Kai was absolutely seething, his memory apparently completely returned. Michaels was shifting awkwardly to the side while Spencer and Ian were trying to figure out what they could possibly say that would placate the boy. There was nothing they could think of to be honest.

"_What did you say!?" _Everything froze and all eyes shifted to where Voltaire's back was just visible down the hall. "Where the devil is he?!" A pause, but it was enough to send imaginations into a frenzy. Someone was missing…and the only one they could think of was someone who had no business being missing. "He just woke up from a coma?! How far could he have gotten? What am I paying you to have surveillance and guards for if a ten year old boy whose barely alive can simply walk out of the front gates!?"

"How bad was it?" Kai hissed to Spencer.

"Bad. We didn't think he'd make it." The blonde replied honestly.

"What the hell was he thinking?" The ten year old slowly pushed himself to a steady stand.

"How long has he been gone for? Well go find him you fool!"

There was a slow rapping at the door, and silence fell over everyone. The only one that seemed capable of movement was oddly enough Kai. The boy waltzed forward as though he hadn't just been panicking on the floor and threw open the door. Blue eyes looked at him, and he looked back.

"Luka…" Kai mumbled looking at the boy. Wolborg pressed his muzzle into the boy's hand and Kai vaguely recalled petting it as he stared at his little/older brother. The boy was teetering ever so slightly. All eyes were staring at him in horror.

"Never mind. He's here. Call off your damn search party. I'll bring him and the other back when I feel like it." Voltaire was looking at the redhead with wide eyes. The phone fell onto the receiver with a heavy click.

"I told you I'd be here next with your friends…sorry I'm late." And with that Tala fell forward in a dead faint.


	8. Shepherds We Shall Be

**Windstar**: This one is slightly shorter then the last one, but then again, the last one was kind of an endless tale of woe. For the most part, this story is going to continue on like this, back and forth between present and past. I will say now though, that the present will split off in the future and there will be two things happening simultaneously coming up (not this chapter but later on). I've got a lot of things planned for this fic, and I'm going to try to update it every Wednesday from now on. I look forward to reading your reviews, and see you all next Wednesday! **Disclaimer: **see first chapter

**Chapter Seven:**

Bryan shot forward, his heart thundering in his chest as Kai caught the falling boy. He got there just as Kai started to help the unconscious ten year old into the house. He looked like he wanted to help, but Kai simply picked Tala up before anyone could even blink

The redhead looked awful. His body was shivering heavily in the cold, his fingers pale and turning almost blue because of the chill. There weren't even shoes on the boy's badly torn feet that were clearly numb from frostbite.

He was shaking though, which was a good thing. He wasn't hypothermic. Still though; he looked completely and totally to ill to have apparently walked all the way from Balkov Abbey to the mansion. Kai brought the boy to the sitting room and quickly lay him on the couch before stepping back and letting Voltaire look him over.

Michaels replaced the older man though, checking quickly for signs of a fever, looking for his pulse and blood pressure. For a while everyone just watched. They couldn't think of anything truly to say. Kai stood there staring at the scene; taking it in and feeling his fists clench and unclench at the thought that his brother had done such a stupid thing.

Eventually Michaels determined that Tala would be just fine, he needed to rest, and he needed to take some antibiotics for the infections that were surely going to start on his feet. _Those _were cleaned and wrapped and then the boy was carried up to his old room and slipped under the covers for some rest.

The others were loath to leave the boy's side again, seeing as how he had a penchant for disappearing acts and reckless behavior. So without further ado, they all pulled up some chairs and glared at Voltaire and Michaels until the two of them finally decided to explain just what had happened.

They talked about Boris, and how the ISABD and the BBASS were trying to crack the Abbey and bring everyone in it down. They wanted to put a complete and total halt on all operations, and to do so they needed proof for the actions that they were accusing the Abbey of doing. Then they told them about how Tala had agreed to damask Boris for the camera, and after that all hell broke loose.

"What the fuck did you tell him to make him agree to doing something as asinine as that?!" Bryan screamed, leaping to his feet.

"Bryan watch your mouth." Voltaire hissed, glaring at the boy.

"No, I don't think he has to, how dare you black mail him into cooperation!" Kai was positively glowing with hate and anger. His rage was so easy to see that it was impossible to not take in the clenched fists and the tight contours of his muscles. He looked ready to kill. He was completely and totally enraged.

"We're trying to save the world here-"

"You nearly got him killed!" It was the truth. Tala had been only a few hours shy of death so often after the beating that it was only pure luck that had saved him. His body was wracked with scars and from the sightless way he'd looked at them all there was still that sinking feeling that he could have been permanently damaged from it all.

Tala was only ten years old and yet he was being treated like a forty year old. He was being expected to play a double agent and do what two parties expected him to do. He was being raised a soldier and he had no family truly to call his own. His friends were his family and as much as Voltaire hated to admit it, he did not spend nearly enough time with the boy to make him feel loved by a grandfather.

Michaels had told him about the mission because he'd needed the boy's help. He'd needed his help and he needed it then and there. Blackmailing him and making him choose between his personal safety and the safety of his friends had never been the man's intention, and yet that is very simply what it had turned into.

As the man had watched the videos he had been overcome with such horror and grief over what he'd told the boy to do that there was nothing left inside of him except for respect and reverence for the boy. He had done a job that was horrible and he had been given an even worse consequence then Michaels had even imagined. He was guilty of starting everything, and he felt guilty because of it.

Kai, whose memory seemed to have finally come back completely, was furious and he was acting just like the protective big brother he'd always claimed to be. He was standing between Michaels and the boy as though the man was going to send him out on another quest right then and there.

"I'm sorry that he was hurt as badly as he was…but the information that we received is a huge leap. We have photographic evidence and we have started to collect data and research as well. We're getting farther then we've ever gotten before with this case and I truly and honestly want you to know that his sacrifice will not go in vain." Michaels was trying his hardest to convince the boys that he wasn't a bad man, but he was already a rotten apple in their book.

Kai sneered, his eyes still filled with that perpetual hatred that was so obviously him. He was angry and he wanted to hurt the man who had touched his brother so cruelly. Tala shivered particularly hard at that moment, and he curled himself into a ball. Anna rushed over and gathered another blanket from the closet and placed it over the boy, concern written all over her face.

"You're insane. He's ten! He's ten years old and you made him go through hell on purpose!" Voltaire raised a hand to try to calm the irate children down, but it was quickly spiraling out of control. The four friends were to mad and to hurt by what had happened to even consider thinking rationally.

"Fuck the world, they don't give a damn about us, why should we give a damn about them!?" Bryan snapped when Michaels tried reasoning that the safety of the world was at stake. Once more he was told to mind his mouth, but it was halfhearted this time and it was clear that even Voltaire was running out of arguments to excuse what had happened to the redhead.

Anna sat on the bed, gently pushing back strands of red that had twisted and knotted together. Her hands running through the locks slowly. Even she, who had never met or experienced anything from Boris and his Abbey and had no true connection to Tala and his friends (other then Kai), was horrified by what had happened. She honestly couldn't believe that someone had done that to someone, and she couldn't help but think back to how gentle and sweet he had been the last time she'd seen him.

"Are you going to make him do it again? More things like this?" Spencer finally bit out, his eyes glaring coldly at the men.

"He's an agent of the ISA now…so yes." Michaels admitted at long last. Everyone was deathly silent at that, no one said a word. That in itself was an oddity since the man had been expecting an uproar. He waited, looking at the boys as they looked at each other.

Bryan's face was passive. He looked unreadable and for the first time it appeared as though he had nothing truly to say. He simply appeared to be calm cool and collected and that clashed violently with how hateful and aggressive he'd been before that.

Ian looked as though he had something on his mind, as though he'd come up to some important decision that only he would know about. He already had the mindset going and with everything that he was thinking about one thing was certain: he was going to go through with his decision whether they liked it or not.

Spencer looked similar to Bryan, although he seemed more resigned then Bryan did. He seemed to be almost contemplative on other things while still holding onto the one thought that was living solely into his brain. He kept it though, and he believed in it.

Kai summed up all their thoughts the best. He looked the same as always, cold sneer planted firmly on his face, his eyes dark and glaring as he showed no attempt at hiding how he truly felt about the situation. He didn't like it, and he didn't like the fact that they were doing this either.

"We're going to do it too." He said simply enough. Michael's mouth dropped.

"You just got finished reaming us out because-"

"Because you made him do it alone, because you did that to him and you expected him to be able to accomplish all the things you're asking of him by himself. There's no way he'd be able to get all the information you require, and you think he can survive another few rounds of _that_? At least if we do something then things will go faster and he won't be killed. Boris won't hesitate to kill him if he steps one more toe out of line. You want him to do this again though…and even we're not dumb enough to not see that there is a point to all of this."

"And just how exactly do _you _plan on doing something to help out?" Michaels asked as he raised an eyebrow. "You're not in the Abbey anymore, and you can't go back into it because of your foolishness with that bitbeast."

"What bitbeast?" Kai frowned and his friends looked at him in confusion.

"Black Dranzer…" Ian mumbled as though he was completely shocked that Kai didn't recognize what they were talking about. When Kai still didn't seem to have any idea what they were talking about Michaels went on.

"Regardless, you in particular can't do anything."

"So what? You just expect me to stand back and watch you make Luka and the others put themselves in danger?" Kai hissed, and it was obvious he wasn't going to back down on this, no matter what the other man said.

"Like you said earlier, you're ten years old. You all shouldn't be involved in general." The group waited, their eyes staring worriedly at the man. "However I won't lie to you that I think that this is far too much for just Tala to handle by himself."

Bryan, Ian and Spencer looked at each other. As the only children of the Abbey left it was going to fall on their shoulders then to take up the slack when Tala woke up. Putting themselves at risk and the like was something that they were going to be doing more and more. Perhaps though, not as fool hearty as Luka had been. The boy had danced with the devil because of his actions and he had almost lost his life because of it.

"Like hell you're not going to let me participate." All eyes went to Kai who was still seething at the notion that he couldn't do anything. Michaels himself looked like he was about to start loosing his patience with the young boy.

"And what could you possibly do to help? You'll be little more then a cheer leader!"

"I can tell you anything you need to know about the Abbey-"

"You can't even tell us the reason why you left!" A dark blush crossed the boy's features and his fists clenched even harder.

"I remember what they taught us." He muttered. "I can do other things…find information other way, even if it's just paperwork- you can't not let me help!" Michaels sighed heavily, his hand rising to his face. He was losing a great deal of patience with this boy, but it was clear that if he didn't agree he would most likely do something anyway. It was either keep an eye on him or have him go off unprepared and unassisted to his death because he was trying to help out. Neither were scenarios that he liked, but at least on one hand he could keep an eye on the boy.

"Fine. I'll find something you can do at Head Quarters." Kai just smirked, clearly pleased with himself, but Michaels went on. "As for you three…I'm sure you've realized just how dangerous this mission is. You've seen what happens when you go up against the Abbey…if you're ever found out you will die. There is not a doubt in my mind that you will be killed. Are you sure you want to continue on with this?"

There was never any doubt in the watchers' minds, after everything that they'd seen and perceived, that the Demolition Boys would not agree. There was little surprise when each and every one of them nodded their heads and moved forward to follow Michaels as he seemed to try to get some paperwork together.

To the Blade Breakers, it was like someone had hit them with a sledge hammer. Happy childhood memories of playing in the park and learning how to ride a bike were things that they'd assumed that every kid had known. Even Rei, who lived out in the wilds of China, had lived the life of a happy child.

Days of fishing for the village, and working in the fields for food were simple things. Mariah and Lee, Gary and Kevin were his friends and they laughed and played while they worked. There was never a dull moment and they could express all the happiness and joys that their hearts willed them to. All in all, there was delight and wonder in their lives.

They would rock climb the mountains just to see the sights above; and they would swim in the river just because it was something that was nice to do on a warm sunny afternoon. Things like that were normal and they were something that everyone should have had to experience. Life was good and life was fun.

For the Majestics, their lives had been all about heirs and graces. They learned how to be primp and proper and they were educated better then anyone else in that room. They knew so much and they were trained to be gentlemen since they were babies. Yet they never once could say that life had treated them well.

The pressure of being famous and handsome seemed like nothing compared to the pressures that were being shown to them at that moment. At ten years old they were learning how to dance well and how to properly use swords. They were being tutored in etiquette and charm. Money was something they were never short on, and it was something that they always flaunted.

Girls were always around them and they were quick to flirt and to get what they wanted. They had butlers and cars and they had the lives of princes. They would complain when they couldn't get what they wanted and they would say life wasn't fair. They would argue and curse and fall into themselves and mope for a while. If they didn't win a beybladeing match they would complain and place the blame on those around them.

Life for them wasn't at risk. Their very lively hoods weren't at fault. They could hardly imagine a world like the Demolition Boys lived in. They could hardly imagine a world that was full of the danger and pain that was suffocating and deadly. It was a poison straight from the jungles of Africa or South America, tipped on an arrow that only needs to skim your skin to take effect.

A poison that was ready to strike at any moment. There was no cure and there was only the waiting. As time passed the poison was dangerously aimed straight for these boys. It would lash out and was deadly if it was left untreated. Yet it could never be treated and their lives were a constant battle of facing the odds and placing their bets. Children died in that Abbey, and it was a miracle that these boys lived long enough to reach the tournament that had just passed.

Yet even then they'd been targeted. Even then they'd been shot with that poisoned arrow that was coming straight from the bows of the Abbey. That arrow that had shot against all odds straight for Tala as he'd been laughing and dancing in the street with his new found freedom and grace.

He was smiling and grinning like a fool and as he spun in circles it snowed because that was the happiness that he had. Kai had been laughing then too and for the first time a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He was free, just as Tala was. They were free from the pain and suffering of the Abbey they were free from the ISABD and the BBASS. They were free from everything and they could finally for the first time take a step away from the darkness that they had subjected themselves to for the longest time.

Yet the arrow still struck. Tala had fought so hard to avoid it, he'd run as fast as he could and he'd nearly made it. A moment of distraction, looking in up in horror as he stared eyes wide at his brother who was calling for him, and the arrow had gone clear through the boy's chest. He'd stumbled, falling face first into the ice as he lost his footing on the cracked ground.

The light of a phoenix was the only thing that had saved him. How ironic was it that on the moment of freedom and release had reached its pinnacle it had been shot down by the metaphorical arrow only to be dragged from the water as a phoenix of light and rebirth. If he survived the journey through the city to the Moskva hospital; and he survived the journey through the harsh and bitter storms that was the arrow's poison. Would he too be reborn into a new world?

Would he manage to become Luka again? The carefree child of light and joy that had been ever the brother of Sacha and the grandchild of Voltaire. Would he be able to be reborn into a free child? Or would he be trapped into the life of Tala Ivanov, forever bound to the Abbey and its ways? Or would he never wake up from the bullet that had been intended to kill him?

Poison had seeped into his veins and it was only his will to live that would cause him to survive. The poison, a noxious gas that was all encompassing and deadly to all who looked upon it, a miasma that in all senses of the word was intended to suffocate those who dared to defile the will of the Abbey. Tala had been unfortunate enough to be the last one to have been so harshly struck by that invisible arrow of pain and torture, and still the Abbey's reach was ongoing.

What of the other children who had been so harshly treated in those towers of dark and deadly walls? Their lives had been stripped from them and their innocence tainted. There seemed to be no phoenix in the distance, shining the way to their rebirth. After the fall of the Abbey and the loss at the world tournament, was there any hope for those hundreds of children whose very lives had been dedicated to the teachings of Boris Balkov?

Their bodies had been toned and froth with the agony that came from the guards' harsh lessons. They had been experimented on, and treated little more then guinea pigs. These children of Balkov who had known no joy and no comfort, no happiness and no glee, no sense of friendship and freedom, would they ever be able to live life as they were intended to? Or would they too be trapped into the legacy of the Abbey, forever?

The children of the Abbey were no more children then Tyson was an adult. They were not treated like children and they were not expected to be children. They fought with every ounce of energy and they struggled with all their might. For people who had never been given a reason to live, they fought to keep the breath in their bodies and the beat in their hearts. They wanted to live, and they would do nothing but fight for that privilege.

To live meant that they could make something of themselves. Spencer for instance, he wanted to be a marine biologist. He was fascinated with the ocean and the waves. He loved the thought of sea creatures and the mysteries of the deep. He was not afraid of the cold dark places of the world, and he longed to venture there.

For each moment he lived in the Abbey, he lived for the hope that one day his dream would come true. He lived for the chance that he might be able to see the rare fish and mammals that lived in the deep. He had his reason to live, and it was outside of himself and outside of the world that was around him. His reason was for his dream. He held onto those dreams as much as he could, and he would let nobody take those dreams from him.

Friendship was something that he valued because his friends encouraged his dreams. They listened to him when he spoke of the vast oceans and the wonders of the world. They listened to him about everything. Something so small and so fragile as the actual ability to listen to someone seems insignificant, but it was that very thing that created the bond between these boys.

They listened to each other. They did not care about the world around them as long as they were with each other for their lives were joyous when it came to that time with each other. Their hopes and dreams were never dashed and they could be themselves. They didn't have to worry about others judging or caring what they said and did. It was simple and total love for the people that they were.

Each and every one of them were brothers of their hearts. They were great and they were powerful. They were strong alone, but they were stronger together. They loved each other and they looked upon each other with reverence. They took care of each other, and though no blood passed through their veins that was shared or was similar, they didn't think of each other as anything less then family.

Kai was Ian's brother just as Tala was Bryan's and Spencer was Kai's. They were cyclical. For children who had no family and had no lives other then that Abbey and what they were raised to believe, they considered each other family. They were brothers, they were mentors, they were friends, they were parents, and they were everything that a family consisted of because that is what they had to be. It was why Tala never argued when Kai had insisted he was the older brother, for there were times when Tala had needed that older person who understood and cared about him enough to speak to him as a person.

Kai would need him sometimes as well, and in those moments Tala would play at being older and he would care for his younger companion. To be young and to be old were simply figments of their imagination. Age hardly mattered because to them the only thing that was important was their safety. So when someone had to be cared for, age was tossed out the window and they were cared for.

The watchers had never experienced a friendship as close as those boys were to each other. They couldn't experience it because they couldn't understand it. They never were put into a position where they had to risk their life completely and totally for another's. They were never put into the position where at any moment they could be torn from the world, and so they could never create the bonds of family and friendship that these boys had made.

Tala was, and always would be the most caring and considerate person to Ian, Bryan, Spencer, and Kai. He would always treat them differently because that was the person that he was. Who he truly was. He would treat them with the love dignity and respect he knew they deserved, and he wouldn't care what people thought about him in return.

To others, Tala would appear cold and aloof. He would have no true morals and he would seem to be the enemy that they wanted him to be. They, as the Blade Breakers, Majestics, All Starz, and White Tigers, had never treated Tala as anything other then an enemy. They had always perceived him to be a rival and a terrorist. They'd never taken the time to consider who he was and what he believed in. There was no thought that was necessary beyond that.

Kai never had once spoken ill of the Demolition Boys. In all of their time together as they had travelled through the world and their experiences in Russia, the Blade Breakers never heard him utter a single bad thing about them. He spoke often of Boris and how he was a bastard and evil through the core, but of Tala and the others he was silent.

The only time he ever had opened his mouth had been during the finals. He seemed almost to force the words from his mouth. He looked stiff and distracted. He was thinking always about something else. He never seemed to take note of what he was saying as his mind was elsewhere. During the match with Bryan, he seemed only mildly surprised and then all of a sudden he'd been infuriated. Back then it seemed like he was mad that Bryan had started to attack Rei, but upon further consideration even that seemed too vague and too unclear to actually be the case.

Kai was their friend…maybe…but he'd never shown much care or consideration for them. He looked after them, he fought hard to keep them safe, but it seemed like it was only out of his duty as Captain, his duty as a member of the ISABD and the BBASS, to do so. When Rei was injured, he spoke sourly, but it wasn't truly directed towards Bryan, it always seemed to be elsewhere.

It seemed as though he'd expected Bryan to attack Rei, but it was with resigned sadness that he spoke ill of him. He was almost _disappointed_ rather then angry. He didn't seem to care less about Rei's actual injuries, and only said what he needed too to seem appropriate. He gave encouragement when he had to, but all the while he was glaring and frustrated.

When the watchers were told the tournament had been rigged, things started to clear up. Was Kai upset that Bryan was behaving so harshly when he was supposed to loose anyway? It seemed almost needless. The first time that Rei was struck he had sighed and shook his head like it was nothing. Like the tickets to his favorite movie had been sold out. That had been the extent of his caring on the matter.

"Figures." Was all he'd said on the topic, and when Max questioned him, he just elaborated "That little stunt was no accident pal." It was almost as if he had known before hand that Bryan would behave the way he had.

In the video it was clear that slowly yet surely Bryan was being raised to be aggressive and spiteful towards anyone he came across in a battle like situation. He was even going so far as to attack Tala ruthlessly during a fight, and the two of them held no quarrels. It was a simple matter of how he was being treated.

Bryan's constant injections that seemed to send him into fits of anger were just the start. Six years later he was the type of person who would attack without even thinking about it. He had attacked with such fury and such ability at first to hide the attacks that it was seemingly just a careless act on his part.

"You're a real piece of work ever made a cheap shot you didn't like?" Rei had questioned him because he was infuriated back then. He had never been in the situation where his opponent had willingly and deliberately taken such a cheap shot. He had been attacked by the debris as it had been knocked off the stadium, but the angle and arch had been so perfect and deliberate that there was nothing except for the belief that it had been on purpose.

"That's just my way of saying hi." Bryan had laughed, sneering at him carelessly. Yet it was his job to lose. That had been what Mr. Dickenson had said. Bryan had been told to loose, and that was hat he was going to do, yet he was so completely and totally dependent on the fact that he fought with such a violent style, it was hard to see he was even attempting to throw the match. "There's a lot more where that came from Rei, and before I take your bitbeast I'm going to put you through the ringer."

Then there had been all the witty puns. Kai hadn't said anything through it all. He'd stared at it with eyes that showed he was displeased, but what had he been displeased with? Had he been displeased with what was happening to Rei, or because Bryan seemed to be breaking the deal? For the longest time it appeared that Bryan was going to win; and that scared Kai. It had to have.

Through it all though, no matter what had happened, Kai had been calm and collected. He offered encouraging words, but it was flat. He spoke in such a way that it seemed like he was still cheering Bryan on. He was completely and totally emotionless when it came to Rei's injuries. All the shock and all the horror he'd seemingly possessed could very well have been the shock and the horror that Bryan wasn't following the plan.

Bryan had actually looked like he was going to win, and from what they'd seen, it was not in his nature to lose on purpose. He was too proud and he was too arrogant to do so. Yet he had done it. He'd done it, and he'd nearly killed Rei in the process. Was Kai mad at him? Or was he simply annoyed?

For six years Kai had been a member of that team, as the video went on it expressed that Michaels' called them the Freedom Fighters in operation Freedom. It was a team name that no one had heard at all during the tournament. Nobody had told them about the Freedom Fighters.

Mr. Dickenson had explained to them what was happening with Boris and yet he had (all the while) made Voltaire out to be a bad guy. He had made him out to be evil and cruel and even Kai had added into the belief that the man was a bad person? Why though? It made no sense.

Did they not trust the Blade Breakers? It was entirely possible that the reason the truth was kept so hidden was because of this lack of trust, but Mr. Dickenson was constantly telling them that they needed to trust each other and act like a team. Yet there were so many lies and secrets being kept from them. The fact that Kai was so close to the Demolition Boys was one thing in particular that seemed to get conveniently get left out.

The fact that whenever Kai went missing or was late to something in Russia, it was because he was meeting up with those four Russians was something that the Blade Breakers thought was important for them to know. How could they possibly forgive Kai for everything that he'd said and done if he had lied to them through everything that they'd been through?

Yet, the ability to actually have trusted Kai if they'd known was something they also didn't know if they could do. Kai had slipped away from them throughout everything, he had pretended to be annoyed and frustrated and he'd gone off to speak with his _real friends _about their mission. The Blade Breakers honestly couldn't answer that if they knew the would have been able to trust Kai. How could they have?

After everything that was going on, Boris being evil and the like, the Demolition Boys had been their enemy. They had been the people that for their entire journey so far they had been supposed to defeat. To know that Kai was acting all chummy with them was something that they might have taken cumbrance too.

In truth, the watchers were guilty of jealousy. They were jealous of the relationship that Kai had apparently had with the Demolition Boys. As strange as it was, they were upset and frustrated that the boy had chosen the Russians over _them_. Even after everything they had seen, it hurt all the more that Kai hadn't ever once trusted them enough to let them into his life.

He hadn't trusted them to tell them he had a brother, or brothers as it seemed he considered himself to be. He hadn't trusted them to tell them that he really didn't have all that bad of a relationship with his grandfather, and that the missions that he was sent on were simply a façade so that things could work out with the Freedom Fighters. He didn't trust them at all.

He kept to himself and he didn't seem to be particularly interested in training them. He woke them up obnoxiously early and he made them do things that they never would have thought about doing. It was true that under his tutelage and bad mouth they had managed to become much better bladers and that he had taught them much about the sport. However, he had done it in a way that purposely kept him apart from them. He had trained them by make them figure things out by themselves. He taught them not by example but by extraordinary rude behavior.

Then in their frustrations, they showed just how good they actually were and he smirked and walked away without another word. He was a cold tutor, but through their training they realized that him smirking meant that he was pleased. He was happy when he smirked, so that was something they strove for. Without even realizing it, they became world class beybladers and they had done it simply by their strength and fortitude. They were great athletes all of a sudden because they had strove to meet _his _standards.

Yet only a few times did they see him laugh like he was actually happy. Only a few times did they see that care free smile that made him actually glow. Kai Hiwatari was actually a rather handsome teen, and when he was smiling freely and without reserve it was all the more obvious just how handsome he could be. He only did it a few times though, and each time was a land mark moment for the Blade Breakers.

So they were jealous, because without any trouble at all and without even needing to say a word, Tala easily could make Kai laugh. He could make Kai want to dance in the snow on a busy street with only a smile, and that was something the Blade Breakers never had a chance on. They never could believe that Kai really wasn't the iceberg they'd assumed him to bed. They could never believe that he could actually joke like a normal teenager.

Only with them though. Only with the Demolition Boys did such behavior exist. Was it because he felt comfortable with them, or was it because they knew him enough that he was open and free enough to smile? It was something that no one ever had managed to get the teen to do, and yet there he was grinning away as always with them.

In the car, Tyson could attest to their relationship. He was curt and commanding at first, he'd demanded Bryan to give up the driver's seat and Bryan had done so without complaint. Then he'd driven, a feat that Tyson didn't even know he _could _do, and he'd been snarking away with Bryan who was actually quite good with puns and dry humor. Tyson could hardly believe what he'd seen.

_In the hospital Kai had sat with them, his arm around Anna's shoulder as she cried worriedly to his chest. Ian paced back and forth, and Spencer stood protectively, leaning on the wall as he waited and tried to keep himself sane enough until the doctor came. Bryan had been particularly quiet; and every once and a while he'd glance towards Rei who still looked worse for wear after his battle. _

_It could have been guilt that was written on the boy's face, but the lilac haired teen never said a word of apology, and looked pointedly the other way whenever Rei noticed he was being watched. Rei looked at them for a moment, noticing that there were scars on their hands. Each one of them had a long thing scar on their hands. He didn't think much of it though, the doctor appeared, going to them after many hours of waiting. He was out of breath, and Kai cut him off before he could reach the main group. They spoke in Russian, Anna clearly fluent after so many years of living in the country. Dizzy had been drafted as the official translator and she repeated everything they said in English so the majority of the group could understand._

"_He's doing well, we managed to fix the bullet hole and there won't be any long lasting damage to his body. It just missed his lungs and heart, though we had to remove his spleen and part of his intestinal tract; that was the only part that was truly hurt by the bullet." The doctor had said simply enough, looking at the faces of the five teenagers who were worriedly surrounding him. He hesitated ever so slightly before slowly continuing. "There were some problems with the surgery though…"_

"_Like what?" Mr. Dickenson questioned as he stepped towards the group. Kai glanced at him as though he was going to tell him to mind his own business but he didn't say anything, instead he just watched and waited. It was the question he wanted to ask too. _

"_His body-"_

"_We're aware of _that_. Were their complications because of it?"_

"_We're not sure exactly what damage may have been done because of his…altercations." _

"_Can we see him?" Kai asked at once, his face showing just how concerned he truly had been about his brother. He had been sick with worry ever since he'd seen the boy fall into the water, and ever since then he had been holding on because Anna had needed him to be strong. _

_Behind his back he'd quietly taken Anna's hand into his own, and he slipped a small ring onto her finger as he'd spoken. The girl had glanced at him in confusion, but his intentions became clear as soon as the doctor nodded ever so slowly, his eyes glancing at the five teenagers._

"_Right now I believe that family should be first, he's had a trying day and I don't think that too many friends would be advisable."_

"_We are his family. He's my little brother, Bryan and Spencer are our older brothers, Ian's the youngest, and this is his fiancé." He'd spoken with such authority and without any hesitation that the other teams had blanched in shock. They couldn't believe what they were hearing._

_First they'd found out that the Demolition Boys had thrown the match, and now this!? The doctor nodded though, sighing heavily as he motioned for them to follow him down the hall. The other teams were kept behind, they weren't family, and they couldn't follow. _

Many hours later as the teams were watching the video provided to them by Anna, they had come to realize that the true depths of that family could never be expressed in a few short minutes. They had truly sacrificed everything they had for the small and simple fact that they needed to save each other and the world around them.

They were willing to be beaten and abused and talked badly too, they were willing to be thrown down and injected with strange formulas, they were willing to do anything and everything they could for each other because that was who they were down in their hearts. Despite what they tried to get people to believe, they truly were good people, and they truly did care for their family.

On the screen, Tala was slowly yet surely waking up. It had been several days since the talk with Michaels, and Anna was busy cleaning the room around him. The boy groaned ever so slightly, rising the back of his hand to touch his forehead he blinked at the ceiling accusingly. A frown covered his features and he moved to sit up.

"Wait!" Anna moved quickly to his side, and he stared at her in confusion. She gently pushed him back down onto the bed and in broken Russian went on. "Don't – you hurt!" He snickered slightly at her attempt and replied in her native language.

"I speak English you know." She grinned appreciatively at him.

"I wonder how? You and Kai and all your friends seem to know it."

"We learned at…school…the _master _of it made certain we knew and understood several languages."

"What else do you speak?" She asked in wonder. He looked thoughtful for a moment, a hand reaching up to rub his blue eyes ever so slightly.

"Oh…a bit of everything really…with English we learned the other romance languages…and we've started on the Asian languages too. Japanese and Chinese for now…Korean we're kind of dabbling into, but not all that much." He ignored her protests and sat up, his hand still trying to rub the sleep from his eyes as he blinked blearily down at his hands.

"You're smart." She said simply as she leaned closer, looking at his face worriedly. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?" He looked over to her and he frowned.

"I can't see your face."

And the hits just kept on coming.


	9. Rose Colored Glasses

**Windstar: **This is the starter chapter of the second arc of this story. Now that everything has been explained as to how the characters became the under cover agents that they were, now it shows the various trials that took place during their investigations as agents. This is the beginning, and my guess it'll last about another seven chapters (four are done right now, and I still have a bit more to go to finish it up.) After that I'm going to go into a "present day" arc that spends more time in the current time frame. I've contemplated a sequel and that's been formulating in my head for a while, if you guys are interested, drop me ideas on things you want to see when this is over. I can promise it's going to be _very _different from this but it's going to have a lot more fast paced action with slightly less continual angst. You'll actaully have a breath of fresh air once and a while! If there's something you want to see in this too let me know.

**Disclaimer**: See first chapter

**Chapter Eight: **

Tala wasn't blind. That was the only good news that came from Michaels all weekend. He sat down on the bed, took the redhead's face in his hands and thoroughly inspected the boy's eyes. Much to everyone's chagrin (as no one seemed to like Michaels one bit), the man was apparently trained in field medicine and had at one point been in school for medicine before joining up with the ISA.

He knew what he was doing, and so when he deduced what Tala already knew (that he wasn't _blind_), everyone was grateful. Yet it didn't last long. The cut that had gone across the ten year old's face had in fact cut his corneas, and so where he wasn't blind, actually seeing was a great deal harder for him.

Instantly glasses were suggested and the red head mumbled something or other about how he'd look stupid in glasses. Michaels ignored the comment and kept on going, intent on making sure that the boy he'd gotten so badly hurt was at least compensated appropriately for his efforts.

Tala hated his glasses. They were ugly to him, and they were a nuisance. He never really explained why he had such an aversion to them, and no one really asked, but he didn't like them one bit. That, however, didn't change the fact that he _was_ as blind as a bat without them. He needed them to see and so he wore them (albeit very grudgingly).

They were thin wire glasses that didn't have the same blinding quality that Kenny's glasses had. Where Kenny's face was practically hidden behind the giant spectacles, Tala's was only accented lightly. His already angular and well shaped features were given an almost thoughtful quality, and if possible it made him look even more apart from the rest of the world.

At ten years old Tala was starting to show signs of what he'd look like six years down the line. His face was forming nicely and he had lost almost all of his baby fat. It could have been that he didn't eat enough at the Abbey to actually maintain such things, but that was beside the point. Tala's face was slowly yet surely maturing into what it would look like during the World Championships, and the glasses only made him look older.

After he'd gotten them, he'd refused to return to bed, saying it was a waste of the day and he was sick of lying down. Anna dogged his steps to make sure that he didn't get himself into to much trouble, and Kai was a constant at his side. Between the two of them, Tala managed to move around quite nicely and without much trouble. He sat down often enough when the two were ordering him too, and he rested occasionally when they wouldn't let him do anything else.

Still though, he faced everything with a happy smile and a laughing glint in his bright blue eyes. Spencer and Ian watched him, concern always on their features. They couldn't believe that he was acting so normally after such a near death experience. They couldn't believe that he was behaving so calmly and so coolly when he'd been so harshly treated.

The days he'd been in solitude, his only companion being the grubs that were eating away at his rotting skin, should have been enough to cause him to be broken down and defeated. Yet he was just as strong as he ever was. He was laughing and running and ignoring everyone's cares and worries about him the same as always. He simply shook his head and smiled that half assed smile of his, and went on living.

Bryan didn't go to speak with him though. He avoided the redhead at all costs. He stayed by himself mostly, looking over the grounds of the Hiwatari Mansion as he tried to come up with something to say. He helped Michaels with whatever it is the man was doing, explained to him the inner workings of the Abbey, and cleaned up the weapons that Voltaire had lying around.

He couldn't bear to look at Tala or even talk to him. He couldn't think of anything he wanted or needed to say, and so he kept to himself and he didn't say anything. To him, Tala was going to blame him for the beating at the three. It was unlikely that he would, considering the fact the boy had purposefully antagonized Boris into the beating he'd received, but it was still possible. Especially since the whole thing had originated from Bryan trying to kill him. There were some scars that adorned the redhead's body that Bryan had put there, and he knew it as much as the next person.

Bryan was no fool, and he knew that Tala wasn't either. The ten year old was wise beyond his years, and he looked upon things as though his eyes could see no deceit. He knew everything and he didn't brag about the information that he'd acquired. In the end, Tala was very much aware that Bryan had struck at him with the means to kill, and for that, Bryan couldn't face him.

He was embarrassed, and he was worried that his friend would hate him. He didn't want to watch the words of rejection be formed on Tala's lips, and so he kept himself as far away as possible. He kept himself occupied, and only when they all were sitting down for meals did he dare to look over to the laughing redhead who was always talking about something or other that had nothing to do with the Abbey.

Nobody had told Tala that they too had joined up with the ISABD and the BBASS. They didn't want to bring him back to the Abbey just yet, so they didn't want to talk about anything that might upset him. To them, Tala was a cracked piece of glass and with a bit more pressure it would shatter.

They were worried and concerned for him, and they showed it by their constant shows of affection and care. His body was starting to heal, even though his eyes had been declared unfixable. He wouldn't be able to see unassisted ever again, and he would most likely carry scars on his back from everything that had happened.

The skin on his back was still torn and ripped and though it was healing at a nice pace, the jagged edges of the bugs that had eaten through him would stay forever. They would scar and be the perfect and total image of what had happened that day on the three. He didn't seem to care though, and he never mentioned it. For that very reason everyone was worried.

Michaels spoke to the boy once or twice, going over what had happened as he tried to work out the mental state of the boy. Of everyone who was worried about him, Michaels was the only one who knew exactly what had happened and what was said. He had heard all the cold and dark words that Boris had hissed into the child's ear. He had heard everything that passed between them, and he had watched them with great horror and distress.

It was his fault that Tala had been beaten so thoroughly. It was his fault that he had been through the ringer, and Michaels truly was sorry about it. He didn't like working with kids, and he didn't like having to watch them do things that full grown adults would break under. For a child that was still maturing to live and breathe in the world around him, the deeds done to him had been needlessly cruel. Michaels hated that the boy had gone through it, and that that same world that Tala couldn't even begin to understand, was the reason that he'd sacrificed so much.

Still though, Tala answered all his questions with little care, and he did so with great thoroughness. He elaborated on the happenings, and he spoke about them as though they meant naught to him. It was an all together bizarre experience as the boy should at the very least have been at least haunted by what had happened.

Anna and Tala seemed to get off to a much better start. Anna was a constant at his side, fetching him food and water and talking to him carelessly. The twelve year old girl was soon becoming a close friend to the boy, and Tala even started helping her with her Russian. She was a fast learner, but that didn't stop him from constantly teasing her about the sounds that she was making, unconsciously mimicking the same behavior that his brother was renowned for.

Tala had found himself perfectly calm and happy at the mansion, and as the days started to turn into weeks, he joked with greater joy and skill then he had before. Sighing though, he knew that things would come to an end, and so at dinner one night he brought up the topic of the Abbey on his own. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed his question about their return. Spencer, Bryan, and Ian had never spent so much time out of the Abbey and they'd started to enjoy themselves greatly on their vacation, but they knew that they would need to return soon.

Voltaire himself knew that he needed to bring the boys back soon. Boris was getting agitated and he couldn't risk another death to spark the children's return to the Abbey. It was the sad truth that less people would die if the boys were put back into that hell hole, but it was what they needed to go with. Nothing could be accomplished if the boys didn't return.

"Monday morning I'll drop you all off." Voltaire said simply. The others nodded in silence, and went back to their food. Anna sipped at her drink quietly, taking in the world around her with as much care and concern as she could.

Bryan had taken to giving her martial arts lessons when he had nothing better to do. She enjoyed herself as she tried to do so, but she was dreadfully terrible at it. She couldn't throw a decent punch at all, and whenever she tried to do so, the Abbey raised soldiers laughed at her and pocked fun. She glared mercilessly at them, but continued the lessons anyway.

Her relationship with the boys seemed to be clear. They didn't really let her into their world of darkness and deceit, but they allowed her to be near them on the days that they felt like expanding their horizons. As the first real girl that the boys truly got to know, Spencer, Ian and Bryan treated her much like they did any other boy. They didn't take into consideration that it probably wasn't appropriate to trip her and push her down when they were playing soccer or some other energy draining sport that they needed to do (or else they'd go insane).

They didn't even take into consideration she was a girl in general. To them she was just the weird tag along that Kai kept around. She was kind to them and she put up with the bullying, and it was probably because they were the only other people she knew in Russia. She was particularly alone in Russia, the only people she truly knew were Voltaire and Kai and that's because she lived with them.

Voltaire explained to her that Kai's mother had owned an orphanage and that she took in kids from everywhere, and if they weren't getting adopted she'd do so herself. It was a simple matter of caring, and when Aya had died, he had taken Anna in because he couldn't let go of his daughter's caring behavior towards children.

Kai made sure that the bullying didn't get to extreme, and he looked after her often enough. She was nowhere near as good as the boys were at their physical activities, and she was lousy at Russian, but she was accepted none the less. Seemingly only good at working around the house, Voltaire offered her employ as a maid and she jumped on the chance. She didn't go to school really, and when Kai was being tutored and the others were goofing off, she helped the other maids around the house with cleaning and making sure everything was presentable.

In the two weeks that the boys had stayed, she'd laughed and had a great old time with them, but to her, their world was apart. Separate and untouchable they were somewhere else and she was left behind. It wasn't on purpose really, but they had lived so long in the cold dark recesses of the Abbey that acting open and welcoming was simply not in the boys' nature.

Kai himself had had a hard time letting her into his life, and though he tolerated her to an extent, he wouldn't let her into his world and tell her just went on in the Abbey. With everyone skirting around the issue in general there was nothing that she could do except stay outside of their world. She was not one of them, and so she would always be a leper. Even if they liked her as a person, she could and would not ever understand the depths of the pain and hurt that existed in their hearts.

At that fated dinner when everyone had been told just when they would return though, Anna felt more alone then she'd ever had before. Even is she'd never been apart of that world, she'd longed to understand the five boys who were now in her life. She wanted to understand because she wanted to be able to help them if she could. Yet she was too different and she was too apart to even be able to do so.

She'd never beybladed, and Kai refused to teach her. She didn't understand the point of it, and so she could never understand just how much it meant to the boys. She'd never been truly physically struck before, and so she couldn't understand the pain that they were in as they ducked blows almost each and every day of their lives. She'd never been in the position to fight for her life and so she couldn't become one of them.

That very lack of understanding is what made her endearing though, because she was so separate from their world it was almost like an innocence that could never be tarnished or ruined. Kai and the others liked having her around because it showed them what they were fighting for. It showed them who it was they were giving their lives for. It was for Anna and all the simple and plain people just like her.

The nonexciting and the dumb girls and boys, men and women, who were living out their lives with no true care or worry were who they were fighting for. They kept Anna around because she was innocent of all the evil that was around them, and that innocence was infecting. Having her there and telling them that they needed to take their muddy shoes off before they went traipsing through the halls she'd just cleaned gave them a sense of normalcy. She was both friend and sister and wayward mother to the boys who needed that most of all.

That innocence that had long been denied them was infectious. They felt like normal people around her, and unconsciously she was helping them with the hurts that they had. Tala grinned and bore everything that was thrown down onto him. He smiled and laughed like he had no care, and yet it was only with Anna that it seemed that laugh was believable.

That silly innocence that he'd never had was almost soothing to the soul and he was happy to have her. She wasn't pretty really, she didn't have a striking personality, she couldn't save the world and bake cookies at the same time, she wasn't athletic or really good at the things they were good at, she couldn't do anything except clean and get made fun of.

The boys teased her because her pouting at them made it all worth while. If they'd done something like that at the Abbey they would be asking for a fight with the other students and it was there ever loving personalities towards Anna, and her ability to let it slide, that let her be someone that they were willing to fight for.

Going on the three to save people like Anna was something that they were all willing to do. It was because they needed her that they loved her. They needed her because she was their reason to keep on fighting. She was the embodiment of the world. Perfect and innocent and untouchable. Just like their pasts, she too was untouchable because she had not experienced the cruelties of the world.

That dinner went on in relative silence until finally Spencer spoke up. He looked over to Tala and revealed that they too had joined up with the various organizations in hopes of taking down Bio-Volt. The reaction was far from expected. For the first time in the two weeks that they'd been staying at the Mansion, Tala looked something other then pleasant and happy. His face contorted with rage and he stood up roughly, glaring at them hatefully.

"What the fuck do you mean you're going to help me?!" He shouted, his body actually quivering with rage. The boys stared at him in shock, they hadn't expected the firestorm. Anna shrunk back in her chair, suddenly not wanting to be there at all. The energy in the room was horrible and it was suffocating, it was almost like the oxygen had completely disappeared and everyone was gasping for breath.

"We're going to help gather information to get rid of Boris and put him and the others away for good." Spencer said calmly, ignoring the look on the irate Captain's face. The boy was absolutely seething with hatred all at once, his eyes flashing dangerously. There was something to be said when a ten year old looked murderous and could actually carry out the threat.

Tala had no qualms about striking down someone that was older and more apt at defeating him. He could easily beat Spencer in a fight, Ian too. Bryan was more of a challenge, and Kai was an all out battle, but he had beaten them before. He was ready for the fight too, he was filled with pent up energy and he was madder then he'd ever been in his life in that one moment.

"No you're not you stupid shit." Anna slipped quietly from her chair, walking invisibly towards the door and quickly exiting. She caught sight of Voltaire's thankful eyes as she disappeared out the door. This was no argument that she needed to be apart of, and from the looks of things it was going to get worse before it was going to get better. Tala was rearing for a fight, and though she couldn't understand all of the vulgar words that were pouring out in his native language, she could tell that things were getting more and more energetic and she wasn't wanted there at all.

"Calm down Luka." Kai whispered quietly, looking at him pointedly. Blue eyes glared at him and his lips turned into a sneer, for the first time it looked like he was actually going to pick a fight with his brother, something he had never done before. The closest he'd come was during the Black Dranzer incident, but even then it'd been more of a rescue mission then an _in your face attack mode_ plot.

"Don't you tell me to calm down. You've got no right. None at all."

"I'm your brother-"

"Who conveniently forgot and tossed aside everything in your ridiculous habit of running away from all your God-dammed problems for practically a year." Kai actually flinched at that, and he looked away. He was hurt by the comment, and it was one of the few times that the watchers had ever seen the slate haired boy looked so hurt.

Even after all the scenes of abuse and pain and suffering, Tala's words had cut him like ice. They had stabbed him straight to the heart. Even his parents' murders hadn't hurt Kai liked that seemed to have. Back then, the boy had been in a state of shock and horror. He was pained and in mourning, but he wasn't…_hurt. _Now though, Tala had known just what to say and do to make Kai suffer and he stabbed him clear through the body because of it.

That was something that had become increasingly obvious about the redhead. He knew everything because he watched everything. He saw the reactions people had to things, and everyone always came to him with their problems; however that also meant that he knew all their problems. He knew everything that made people tick and what it was that made them pain. He kept this information to himself and he didn't tell anyone about it, but in a firefight he was more then willing to throw salt on an already open sore and rip someone's heart out through their chest. That was no problem at all for him.

"Tala, that's not fair." Voltaire told him sternly, looking at him with dark eyes. The boy sneered, crossing his arms over his chest in such a way that showed that he truly couldn't care less. He was angry and hurting and he knew which buttons to push to make people feel the way he felt.

"You're right, pretending that I barely knew him or anything about him for a fucking year while he was off running around the manor, or rather _rolling _around the manor like some pampered prince isn't fair." Kai seemed to shrink slightly, his teeth grinding as his eyes flashed with something unrecognizable. Beneath the table, and just visible to the camera, Kai's hands were clenching ever so slightly.

"What does that have anything to do with us helping you with this mission?" Ian asked, sick of looking at Kai's hurt face. They had finally started to get things back to normal now that Kai was with them again. After so long apart, there was the thought that perhaps they wouldn't be the same, but when Kai opened that door and Spencer and all of the rest of them had looked at him for the first time in practically a year, they couldn't help themselves but fall back into the old patterns of friendship that had existed before he'd left.

Tala actually laughed though at Ian's question. He snickered ever so slightly, a dark and evil laugh that was reminiscent of how he would laugh at the world championships six years later. It never really reached his eyes and he looked more insane then anything else.

"You all think you're going to come and help me? When's the last time trying to help me ever ended well for any of us? I can't think of one. Really, and you all act like this is some kind of joke. Did you even think about what happened to me? Or are you all to stuck in your self absorbed idiotic ways of thinking that you can't tell that maybe it doesn't feel to nice to have _fucking maggots _eating away at your skin while you're waiting to die. It's not all fun and games when they're put their on purpose either. Or when you're half dead and dying of hypothermia because there's no heat in that bloody room and so your _bitbeast _is trying to keep you warm and alive.

"But Waw-oo can't stay out of her bit for days on end and so you're still dying regardless, and the only fucking reason I did it all was because you all were going to be next. You all were going to be the next ones that Boris was going to try to turn into his little punching bags and you think I'm going to just sit here and watch as you undo everything I tried to do for you!? Well fuck you! Fuck you hard. I didn't do all that just to watch you throw it back in my face and walk into danger!

"I'm practically blind, and I can barely move right, and you're all sitting there with dumbstruck looks on your faces as though I'm saying something you haven't considered. Bryan can't even say one word to me after what's happened, and you all think that this plan of yours is going to be skipping through daises? You're all whacked. Each and every one of you are completely out of your minds. Shit, even Kai knows better then to have joined up with you three idiots!" There was an awkward silence, and when Tala glanced over at his brother who shifted uncomfortably in his chair the blue eyed boy turned and punched the wall behind him with as much force as he possibly could. He was shaking with rage and he couldn't put into words at all just how mad he was at them, _all of them, _for doing this to him.

He hadn't meant to put a hole in the sheet rock, but he'd done it unconsciously, and the others just stared at him. Voltaire was pointedly quiet through the tirade, looking on with somewhat of a pitiful appearance on his face. He seemed to think nothing at all of the hole in his wall, his concentration completely on the boy who was literally shaking with rage.

Kai stood up, slowly yet surely and made his way around the table, his hand touching the motionless ten year old who hadn't moved an inch since his attack. Tears had formed in the boy's eyes, and for the first time in two weeks he looked completely and totally broken after everything that had happened. The revelation that Boris had purposefully infested his body with those creatures as form of punishment had been almost to much to handle.

It explained how the grubs had gotten there so fast, but the fact that the man had actually been sick enough to push the creatures onto the boy's tarnished flesh was inhumane in so many ways. Tala was a child and he never should have experienced such a horrible act. He had cracked terribly from all the events that had transpired in that room; and the happy and carefree act had only been there because he'd been truly happy and excited about everyone's safety.

That was they type of person he was. He was happy for them and he thought little of himself because they were happy. He was always trying to be in the present, and there was nothing about the past that he wanted to think about. Yet there was always a breaking point. Just as Michaels had told him weeks ago, there was always a point when someone couldn't take anymore and just gave up. Finding out that his friends were now willing to go through the same torture as him; for the simple act of saving a world that never gave a damn about them anyway; hurt more then anything else.

Kai pulled the boy towards him, hugging him because it was the only thing he could think of doing. The earlier jab had been ignored because it had been said with the hopes that Kai would fight with him. Tala really was a masochist sometimes. Sometimes he just wanted to be hit and let it all be done with.

Boris was to thank for that. The strange way of thinking that had engrained itself in the boy's mind would never leave. Whenever things were getting to hot to handle, Tala would push buttons and make people want to take swings at him. He'd usually let them beat on him a bit, and only after a time would he even consider fighting back. By then though he'd have gotten his frustration out, and he'd come out thinking he'd done something grand.

Tala had a horrible way of dealing with things, but if someone could wait out his tirade they would be gratified in finding out that he really didn't mean anything he'd said and that he was hurting worse then they could give him credit for. It was Boris' way of doing things that had finally destroyed the boy's ability to cope.

He'd been so accustomed to physical pain that he actually preferred it to mental pain. The anguish of his heart being torn from his chest was something that Tala couldn't handle well at all. So while he had no inhibitions of going on the three, hearing the cruel and evil words that Boris would whisper into his ear that was enough to drive him crazy, hearing his friends say that they wanted to sacrifice themselves for such a foolish cause; broke his mind.

Tala was a master at hiding his true feelings. He was perfect at being a victim of circumstance, and he was able to hide every emotion that he possessed because he had been trained at such a young age that such things were unacceptable. He was the living proof that Boris Balkov at least knew how to teach a child how to not be human anymore.

Kai pulled him to his chest, and held him there, ignoring the redhead's weak and futile attempts to get out of his hold. Eventually the pounding hands on his back turned into grasping ones. They held onto him tightly as the boy cried heaving sobs of anguish. Spencer and Ian moved over too, Bryan coming in last – still wondering if Tala was mad at him too.

The group stayed there for the longest time, Voltaire watching over them caringly. He knew that it wasn't his place to be there with them. He knew that this was something that the boys of the Abbey had to work out amongst themselves. Tala needed companionship, but he couldn't be coddled. He wouldn't let anyone coddle him. He was too proud and too strong to do that. He needed only the smallest extent of friendship that wouldn't encroach upon his ever prideful nature.

"We couldn't let you do this alone…we couldn't just stand by and watch you kill yourself while we did nothing. You're our brother Luka…you're our friend. We won't let you do this alone. Not when you could use us." Kai whispered into the boy's ear, softly and quietly, ever soothing in an attempt to show just how much he wanted the boy to be alright. Tala clutched the younger boy harder, and as the scene faded the brief nodding of those red locks was all the watchers needed to see to know that Tala had agreed to those terms.

Michaels was on the screen when it came back into focus. He was looking at the five boys sternly, making sure each and every one of them had their attention on him. He was only going to give his little spiel once, and after that, he was done. There was nothing else he could do for the boys except help them out on their reference point days.

Once every two weeks the boys would meet at Hiwatari Mansion, from there they would travel to the ISA Russian headquarters, and since the ISA technically didn't exist in Russia, it was mopped up to look like a computer industry.

At the headquarters they would give a detailed report of everything that went on inside the building and whatever findings they came up with over the two week period. They would meet down in a small training facility and go over any and all techniques or the like that they needed to know about during their undercover assignments.

Kai would be running research and development, handling a paperwork trail longer then the Nile, and organizing it so that it's presentable. He'd write up the reports of everything that took place in the Abbey over the time frame between each meeting and then he would submit it into the filing system.

Bryan's job, seeing as how he was unfortunately the one with the most experience in the matter, would be to figure out just what the scientists were doing. What were they creating and what was it that they were injecting the students with. Any and all changes that took place with his own rage treatments were to be documented. He was to be catalogued at every available moment, and any names of medical relevance were to be memorized and jot down.

Spencer was in charge of the general state of affairs between the student and guards. Everything that was going on between the two different groups was to be discussed. He needed to keep a sharp eye and a keen ear to keep track of each and every incident that came about. While the cameras helped with this, and the security feed was being leaked daily to the ISABD headquarters, the actual report on the topic needed to be first hand. Everything that they needed to work with was right there. He just needed to authenticate them with an actual report on the topic with first hand visual experience.

Ian was the simplest and yet most dangerous, seemingly, of them all. He needed to document the various parts of the building. Every part of the Abbey was special and hidden. There were some parts that were so dark and discrete that there weren't even cameras there to show the rooms that lay in the deep dark of those hallows. Ian needed to infiltrate each and every one, make sure there was a feed running so the room was bugged discretely enough so they wouldn't be found out, and then slip out without anyone seeing he was even there. The very security cameras that were being bugged at that moment couldn't see him do these tasks, because if it saw him, that meant that the guards at the Abbey could see him too, and they'd all be found out. Ian needed to be discrete and he needed to not be caught _once_. Or it'd be game over.

Tala was given one mission and one mission only. _Stay_ on Boris Balkov's good side. Whatever it was that made Boris tick needed to be put down in writing, and nobody wanted to see the boy get hurt anymore then he already had been. Staying on good terms with the man would be hard enough as it was. He would need to do everything the man asked of him without complaint or hesitation. He would need to exceed expectations and rise to all challenges. There could be no failure. He would need to be the perfect student, and the perfect Captain. That being the case, the Demolition Boys was going to have to rise up as the most powerful beyblading team in the Abbey.

They all needed to dominate. If they could beat away the competition that meant that Boris would be forced to use them in all the matches and all the plots that he was doing to take over the world. If Tala stayed on his good side, he may be able to gather the deeper darker secrets that Balkov kept only to himself, and that knowledge was most valuable to their mission.

Anna watched them in silence as they slowly started to get ready to go, Tala's glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he fumbled through his belongings and pulled a silver chain and charm out of his desk drawer. He was distracted by something or other, and his movements seemed almost unconscious more then deliberate. He looked so very tired, and she couldn't really blame him. Ever since that talk at dinner, he appeared to have gotten even more restless then before.

Dark circles had formed under his eyes, and even though Kai was a constant by him and always trying to make him feel better, he looked only worse as days passed. He was sighing heavily every now and then, looking over his room as though it would be the last time he'd see it.

"That's a pretty necklace." She said quietly, slowly saying the word for necklace as it was one of the newer ones she'd come across. He nodded vaguely, looking up at her for the first time all day. She smiled lightly to him, and he looked at the chain in his hand.

"Voltaire gave it to me for Christmas when I first met him." He supplied as he looked down at it. She tilted her head to the side as he held it up for her to see it better. The wolf on it was almost glowing it was so beautiful, clearly it had been well taken care of over the years and the craftsmanship was exquisitely done.

"Why do you call him 'Voltaire' if he's your grandfather too?" She asked as she stepped forward to look at it better. The wolf's head was carved deep into the metal, its eyes staring straight at her as though it could peer through her soul.

"Habit I guess. Truth be told, even though I've grown up knowing the man I've never really considered myself his grandchild. He's been a grandfatherly figure, but we both know that Kai will always be his favorite and first. I'm happy just knowing him I suppose." She nodded and looked at the button on the wolf's nose. A clasp? Touching it lightly and wondering if it would open as a locket, she was surprised to hear the wolf call that came from it.

She jumped ever so slightly and he snickered at her, before taking the chain back and slipping it over his head. He grabbed Wolborg's blade and put it in his pocket, not bothering to comment on her jump. She looked about the sparsely decorated room.

It was painted a pale blue, and it shimmered just like the sky. The dark wooden furniture that was placed around it (a bed, a dresser, and a desk) were kept in a neat and tidy fashion. The bed was made, even though one of the maids hadn't been up to do so, and the floor was kept impeccably clean. There was barely anything that showed that someone actually lived there.

"Aren't you older then Kai?" She asked as she followed his movements with her eyes. He nodded back and opened a few drawers, pulling out various clothes that looked similar to the ones Spencer, Ian, and Bryan had worn on their first day at the Mansion.

The others, who were in the room and doing their own things, glanced over to Kai who snorted and looked away. He didn't appreciate their actual ages being pointed out, since he always considered Tala to be younger despite what they were constantly being told. Boris had made it a point to remind them both that Tala was older and therefore was treated harder then he was because of that simple fact. Strange how Spencer and Bryan were never so badly tormented when they were both older then the two siblings.

"Yes, but only by about a month or so. No one really knows for sure. I was adopted when I was two." Tala explained briefly. His hands went to unclasp the buttons of his dress shirt he'd been wearing; the white fabric parting the ways down his chest to show off his striking features and his glimmering skin.

He pulled the shirt off, revealing to her his horribly scarred back. He didn't seem to notice her stricken face in the mirror on the dresser he was facing. He kept his mind on his task, and removed his glasses as he reached for the top part of the uniform. He pulled it over his head without much care and then reached for the button on his pants.

Undoing it, and completely blinded without his glasses, he barely even considered the fact that she was still in the room. Anna blushed furiously and looked away, trying to ignore the fact that he was changing his clothes so unabashedly in front of her. He kicked off his pants and slipped his uniformed bottoms on. Then at long last he placed the glasses on his face, and turned around to look at the deathly silent and horribly embarrassed girl.

He frowned, not quite understanding why she was blushing so badly, and coughed slightly to tell her that she could look back now. She glanced at him, her face as red as his hair. He raised an eyebrow at her as though she was going to explain everything all at once, but she stayed completely and totally silent.

"What is it?" He asked after a long while.

"It's just you-"

"Such behavior is not entirely appropriate in the presence of a Lady, Luka." Voltaire supplied as he stepped into the room and took note of his adopted grandson's dress. He looked at him with wide and innocent eyes.

"Well why not? We do it all the time at the Abbey." Another curse of being at the Abbey was the distinct lack of females in the building. It was something that Boris had been strict about. He didn't think women were worth his time and effort to train, and so they weren't even considered as he dragged countless boys into the institution. Not having the females around tended to leave one a bit under-developed when it came to manners one must practice in their presence.

"Yes, but Anna is neither one of the students at the Abbey or a boy that's…erm…seen it all before." If possible, the girl blushed ever harder.

"Seen what all before?" He blinked at the man in true confusion, and all eyes turned to him. Although Ian still looked perplexed, the others understood what the man was saying perfectly fine. The two looked innocent enough, and it was a sad state of things when a boy knew how to hunt people down and kill them, but didn't know about the delicate things of life.

"It isn't important. I'll leave you to talk now." Anna mumbled as she made a quick beeline towards the door. Tala watched her go in growing confusion, still not quite understanding just what had gone on there.

Kai just shook his head and told him not to worry about it. It was still confusing how Tala could be so smart and knowledgeable in some things, could be so cruel and rude and arrogant in others, and yet be so completely innocent and lost when it came to the simple ways of life.


	10. Never Let It Fade Away

**Windstar: **This is one of my favorite chapters I think. It's delving more into the mechanical world of Beyblading and it's starting to rationalize a lot of the purposes the characters have for doing things. I hope you like this.

**Disclaimer: **See Chapter One

Thanks to all the great reviewers!

**Chapter Nine: **

"Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!" Pull the ripcord, put it back in. Spin the invisible blade. Imagine it slicing and cutting down the opponent flawlessly. "Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!" Repeat process. That was the way of the Abbey.

The unified chorus of the students at Balkov Abbey echoed through the halls. It rang through all their ears and it jumped into the hearts of anyone who was listening. Hours upon hours of harsh training would never be wasted as the boys of Balkov Abbey trained harder then any other professional beyblading hopefuls. There was only one goal, and that was the dark chorus that the boys of the Abbey yelled out each time the guards ordered them to.

The older students were welcomed into a dark and untrusting world, constantly being raised to believe that they are the best and that none other could surpass them. They skirted around Boris and they flourished under the dark teachings that would ingrain themselves into their minds.

_Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!_

The older you got, the more impatient Boris was with failure. It was no longer a matter of teaching someone to get better; it was a matter of weeding out the weaklings. Now that they were no longer four year olds just holding a blade for the first time, the _real _horrors began. Death was all too real of an option, and it was something that everyone was in constant danger of.

The floor in the training room was now rigged. Every time someone lost they fell through the trap door and they disappeared forever. No one saw them again. The first time it happened, the whole room fell silent. No one could believe what they'd seen. The guards shouted angrily at the onlookers, shoving them back to their _games_.

With the knowledge that every loss would cost them their lives, the matches suddenly became more rigorous. They were fought with so much fury and anger that they were really starting to become the cold hearted monsters that Boris was attempting to make them be.

The floor would open up and swallow the losers whole. Every training day would be one that half the group would be killed at. Those days took place once every two months, because they couldn't kill everyone off to fast or there'd be nobody left.

Still, for every child that vanished beneath the floor, another one appeared to replace them. It was a never ending cycle, and the children of the Abbey were slowly getting accustomed to the deathly dealings. They trained harder then ever before, and they started to keep away from people. They started to isolate themselves.

If one had any companions, they would be targeted and they would be forced to face one another. There was no such thing as friends. Everyone was each other's enemy, and that was becoming abundantly clear. The three teams that had been created in the Abbey that were the only exception to the companionship rule were the Hazards, the Maims, and the Demolition Boys.

They were the best out of everyone in the Abbey, and they were considered to be champions of the whole complex. The Hazards were the oldest group of students that the Abbey had. They had all been around ten when Tala and Kai had first started their actual training at the Abbey, and they were quite skilled with their beyblades. They controlled various bitbeasts and they fought with a cruel fury that let everyone know just where they stood in the hierarchy.

The Maims were slightly different. Their team was made up of children of all ages, the oldest being Mikhail (oddly enough though he showed no true exceptional talent with a beyblade he had been chosen for a team) at fifteen, and the youngest was Ruski at nine. Their team was not the best out of the three, and they certainly weren't the most coordinated, but they seemed to be the most vicious of all of them.

Even Bryan, who was slowly yet surely becoming more and more angry and cruel as days went on, was hardly a match for the sadistic way the team bladed. Mikhail seemed to take pleasure in watching his opponents break down, and while he couldn't blade as well as the others, he was the master of cheap tricks. He had no qualms about trying to tear them all to shreds, and he did so with little mind.

Boris seemed to like his cruel streak, and that seemed to be the only reason why Mikhail had made it so far. Tala had said once that Mikhail was like a bug that kept popping up. Whenever someone tried to squish him, he'd hide in the crevices of their shoe or the imprints in the ground, and then he'd attack with a vengeance. He'd leave bites along their bodies and he'd snipe at someone when they were in the dark. He had no scruples and he had no morals. He was simply and completely a mercenary who would do anything for the right price.

Strangely enough though, Bryan enjoyed spending time with the boy, and the two were usually seen with each other if the falcon blader wasn't with his own team. They talked about the outside world, and Mikhail's ability to seemingly draw people to him like flies to flypaper flourished when it came to Bryan. It was a game of monkey see monkey do.

Mikhail smoke and drank, and cursed like a sailor. He seemed to know how to do anything and everything that wasn't entirely appropriate, and he seemed to be quite good and making people hate him. It wasn't long before Bryan too started to drink and had attempted smoking.

It was no secret though, that Mikhail loathed Tala with every fiber of his being. He cursed and yelled and he would purposely antagonize the redhead every chance that he got. Bryan snapped at him to leave his friend alone more times then not, but Mikhail didn't pay him any mind, and it didn't look like he ever would. The boy simply detested the redhead and their relationship was the best it was ever going to be.

When Tala returned to the Abbey, his eyes aided by the thin glasses that were balanced delicately on his nose, everyone was deathly quiet. Though he showed no signs of being hurt aside from those glasses, that seemed to reveal to everyone just what had went on in that dark room, everyone was under the impression that he was a dead man walking.

Boris took one look at the boy's face and sneered hatefully. His hand shot out the first moment that it was able to, and struck him so hard across the cheek that the glasses went flying and if it hadn't been for Bryan catching him at the last minute he would have too! Practically blind, and standing before Boris, Tala blinked up at the man without saying a word.

Boris snickered slightly at the blank look on his pupil's face. He reached forward and he took the boy's chin in his grip. Laughing loudly he roughly shoved him back into Bryan. Ian scooped up the glasses and slipped them into his Captain's hand.

"You really are a glutton for punishment aren't you?" Boris asked lightly, shaking his head as he observed the teen. The words echoed those of Bryan's less then moral filled friend, and ever since then Mikhail had used them as a way to mock Tala incessantly.

The Maims really didn't like the Demolition Boys all that much, and Mikhail's teasing was only the start of it. Whenever they beybattled, they lost. It was clear that the Demolition Boys were better then them, but that only made them more and more furious. Bryan was practically untouchable. He saw through each and every one of their attacks, as they mimicked his own, and he hardly ever came out with a scratch on him.

The Maims were arrogant and they were cruel beybladers who never showed even the slightest inclination towards accepting them as like members of the Abbey. Tala ignored them constantly, and seemed to enjoy walking away from them as it only riled them up more.

Bryan found himself in an uncomfortable position because he was friends with both Tala and Mikhail, but the redhead simply shrugged and told him to hang out with whomever he enjoyed spending time with. It really wasn't his right to say who he should enjoy being with after all.

Bryan leaned up against the stone wall that was the outside of the Abbey. Mikhail was sitting to his right, and he was taking long and sinful gulps of the fiery liquid that seemed to make everything fade into nothing. They were on the roof, looking out at the stars and the city around them. Bryan felt his body shift slowly and awkwardly as he glanced around their world.

"Stop fidgeting so much, you're giving me a fucking migraine." Mikhail hissed as he took another sip from his liquor.

"That drink is giving you a fucking migraine." Bryan snapped back, shifting slightly as he glanced towards the door.

By now, everyone in the Abbey knew that the older children walked around the corridors at night. There was no rest for the wicked, and insomnia seemed to kick in during the evenings. Boris didn't particularly care as long as they were sharp and attentive during practices.

That meant, of course, that it was just another reason to not do so. It was a risk that only the Demolition Boys and a few of the Maims and Hazards ever considered. They were the only ones valuable enough to never loose their lives if things got bad. They took beatings with smiles and laughs and if that was all they would receive for being up after dark then they were willing to take the chances.

That didn't mean though that it was something that they all wished for and were so excited about. Bryan didn't want things to get any worse then they actually were, and that meant he didn't want to needlessly put himself in harms way (as Mikhail so often suggested that Tala did).

"This drink," Mikhail defended with a smirk, "is curing my fucking migraine." He offered it to Bryan and the younger boy took it from him.

"What's so great about tequila anyway?" He asked as he took a daring sip from the bottle. Hissing he roughly shoved it back at his friend while he choked on the burning fluid as it went down his throat. Mikhail laughed all the while, clearly enjoying himself at his friend's torment.

Lilac eyes glared hatefully at the older boy who was still snickering in his corner with a great smile and a mischievous gleam in his eyes. The brunette had obviously enjoyed seeing his companion in such a state, and it appeared like he wasn't going to attempt to say anything in his defense.

"Ass hole." Bryan snapped as he rubbed his throat thoughtfully. "How do you drink that crap?"

"Easy." As though to prove his point, Mikhail took a long sip from the bottle. "And it's so great because you have to be eighteen to drink it."

"Why?" The age old question. Mikhail just shrugged.

"How should I know? The fact that I can drink it makes it all the better. It's like sticking it to the man."

"The man?"

"Jesus, twerp you don't know anything do you?" Mikhail shook his head and went to take another sip when the bottle was suddenly pulled roughly from his hand and thrown across the roof top where it shattered. The fluid spilled from the bottle and for a moment the older boy stared at it in horror.

"You shouldn't take the lord's name in vein." Bryan snapped viciously as he stood up to leave. Mikhail kicked out, knocking him to the ground and glaring hatefully at him.

"Do you realize how hard it is to get that shit!? What the hell is your problem you fucker?" The brunette raised a fist to punch out his companion when it was caught and he was thrown back with enough force to send him half way across the roof.

"Watch your mouth Mikhail." Tala was standing there, his face looking annoyed and his eyes sharp and glaring. He didn't appear to be happy, and Bryan looked up at his friend in concern.

"What, little Bry-Bry can't fight his own battles, you have to step in? Or maybe we should call him _Cry_-an." The boy in question blushed furiously as he forcefully stood up. His eyes glared with an uncompromised anger at the other. He looked ready to throw down right then and there.

"Mikhail. I strongly suggest you stop your incessant attempt at being clever. It will _never _become you." Tala sighed heavily, his hand reaching back to his hair. He adjusted his glasses ever so slightly, shaking his head as though he were talking to a particularly hopeless teenager.

"Fuck you Valkov." A red eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"Maybe I gave you too much credit; it seems you can't even remember my name. After all this time, truly, I'm hurt."

"Guys…look. Sorry I broke your bottle Mikhail, I'll get you a new one." Never before had the watchers thought that Bryan would _ever _say he was sorry. Yet there he was, acting like a _peace maker_ of all things. It was such a sight. Tala shrugged ever so slightly and turned towards the door. Bryan sent an apologetic look towards Mikhail before following his friend.

"You're whore of a mother's name, bitch." Tala stopped- his hand on the door knob. His very features looked to have paled considerably. He appeared to almost become as white as snow.

"Don't talk about our mother-" Mikhail was laughing.

"Not _our _mother, you idiot, _your _mother. Boris' little whore. The one who gave birth to you and then died like the chicken shit that she was-"

"Don't you talk about my mother that way." Tala's eyes were flaring. His fists tight. Even Bryan looked enraged at his friend's words.

"Your mother was a whore that Boris fucked every night until she became pregnant with _you _and then she went and died!" Tala threw himself forward, punching the other boy in the face with all the power he could muster. He was furious and he was rearing to go. He wanted nothing more then to pummel the obnoxious little jerk into the ground.

Mikhail went sailing, and if it hadn't been for Bryan grabbing Tala by the shoulders and roughly pulling him backwards, the redhead would have torn his throat out right then and there. Never before had the young child been so pissed off. He was actually glowing in hatred.

The very ground he was standing on was turning icy as Wolborg herself felt his rage. She was putting out an exterior of ice and chill and Bryan shivered as he felt the sting of the cool temperatures around them.

"What? Mad that you're the son of a whore and the man that likes to play good touch bad touch with you?" Mikhail was digging his own grave. An icicle went flying straight at him, but he ducked it. He was well aware of Wolborg's intense dislike of anyone mocking her young charge. The boy didn't really care though. The furious look in the redhead's eyes was enough to make him grin with delight.

"Knock it off Mikhail!" Bryan snapped, glaring at his friend coldly. Tala tried to pull away so he could get another shot in, but his friend held him firm.

"Or what?"

"Or it'll be _my_ fist in your face."

"Fine, take your little boy toy back to his room. The company was starting to get sour anyway." Mikhail hissed as he shoved passed the two and down the stairs.

Tala finally broke free of Bryan, but he made no effort to go after the brunette. Instead, he stood there on the roof and shook his head. Sighing heavily he looked over to his companion.

"You alright?" He asked after a while. The other nodded.

"You?"

"I'm fine." They were always fine. They couldn't afford to not be fine.

"I'm sure it's not true."

"What isn't?" Tala looked genuinely confused for a moment.

"About your mother and Boris."

"I really couldn't give a damn if it was." The boy shrugged. "Boris will never be my father, even if all the doctors in the world said our blood was similar. My father will always and forever be Niko Ivanov."

"I meant about Boris doing those things _to _your mother." Tala hesitated for a moment. He looked over at his friend and smiled a sad smile.

"Did you know I can remember her?" He asked softly, his body moving towards the edge of the roof as he leaned over to look at the city around them. Bryan shook his head, knowing the other boy would understand even if he couldn't see him. "I didn't realize it until years later, when I was in my father's…Niko's…workshop under the house. Dad would be working on some masterpiece or other and I'd stay down there and just draw and sketch. I didn't realize I was actually good at it, I thought everyone could draw what they saw perfectly. Dad couldn't believe it when I showed him what I was working on. It was her picture."

Bryan moved closer, looking at his friend in awe. Never before did the redhead ever willingly talk about his parents. Especially not this strange talent he apparently had in drawing. The boy though seemed to think nothing of the revelations and he kept on talking.

"He asked me who she was, and I couldn't tell him. I didn't know her name. Until Kai and his parents started to teach me how to talk, I didn't even understand the language that they were using – that she'd used. Understandably though, the last time I'd heard it I was only a few months old."

"What do you mean?" Tala smirked ever so slightly.

"My mother was killed. Boris was trying to find her. She'd been working at an out door wildlife facility, the wolf exhibit of all things. One of the wolves that she'd been taking care of had taken an interest in children, and so she'd bring me with her when she was making the rounds to see if everything was alright. One night while she was checking up on the wolf, her name was Luna back then, (at least that's what my mom called her) and her litter of pups she'd just had, a man came and tried to take her out of the habitat.

"She screamed, and tried to fight back, and I think I started crying because I can't remember seeing anything much. Suddenly, Luna started to attack the man and he started to shoot wildly at things. He killed her pups and shot my mom. The habitat was broken open in all the chaos; and my mom grabbed me and started to make for the hills while other men started to run in.

"Luna followed my mom, and when she couldn't go on, Luna took me from my mother and ran away." Tala pulled back his collar to show the bite marks that still marred his shoulder. "My mom died, and for the next year and a half or so I was living with Luna…or Waw-oo as I came to know her…or Wolborg as you've come to know her."

"How did you remember all of that, you couldn't have been more then a few months old!"

"That's the way I was made." Tala shrugged. "Photographic memory and a kick ass smile. I'm chock full of surprises." Bryan sighed heavily, raising a hand to his forehead. "My mother wasn't a whore. She was a good person and she loved me. I didn't understand anything that was going on back then, and only as I started to get older did I really start to realize what had happened. Wolborg raised me because I was her pup. My mother died and so did her real children, so she took care of me for both of those losses."

The watchers were silent. Tala's admission to being completely and totally aware of everything that had been happening around him since he was a baby was unbelievable. He seemed to be telling the truth though, his face perfectly straight and his eyes unwavering. He didn't hold the characteristics of a person who was trying to lie. It was all to calm and collected.

Bryan seemed to believe him too, his eyes looking over his friend and Captain with an almost over abundance of respect. The lilac haired blader truly believed in his Captain, and it was clear in that moment that he would do anything if Tala asked him to.

Tala was a complete enigma. Who he really was, no one probably knew. He acted so differently to different people, and all the while he kept such a smile on his face that never quite seemed to meet his eyes. What he was really thinking and what was really going on in his head was a mystery.

"Why'd you tell me all of that?" Bryan asked, his eyes full of wonder and confusion. He honestly didn't know. Such personal details were best left between Kai and Tala. Those two were able to speak about anything, and because Kai had adopted Tala into his family, such discussions should have been just that – a family matter.

"Because, you're my friend, and I'm not going to tell you what you should do, I'm just going to explain what's been said." Tala smiled lightly. "Let's go though, we have training to do."

The scene faded and it came back to someplace that was quite different and strange. The watchers had never seen this place before, but Kai and Anna were there and they were being led through the halls. Anna's hand clasped in Kai's, and Voltaire shadowing them protectively as though the world would swallow them hold.

Michaels was showing them around a building, introducing them to people and having them start communications with the various office staff. Clearly this was the base that all of their information was being routed through. The watchers were impressed. It was grand looking, and everything about it was so pure and shiny that it was something that they could hardly believe. The staff were polite but efficient. They worked tirelessly and they were clearly military personnel from the way that they acted and reacted.

Kai was brought down a corridor, Anna being left behind to her own devices, where he was going to receive a psychological examination. According to Michaels, he wanted to record the boy's brain waves and chemistry and then run a study on what his reactions would be to spinning a beyblade.

Although after a while, things started to become more clear. Though Kai seemed to not understand the hushed tones that the staff, Voltaire, and Michaels were speaking in, their words were clear as a bell to the silent onlookers that were spying on their lives. The test wasn't so much a test of what brain waves functioned at in normal circumstances, it was a test to see just how far they peaked when provoked by a sacred spirit, or in this case, Black Dranzer.

The boy couldn't remember anything that happened with Black Dranzer. Although his memory had started to return, it had only gone so far as to bring back people and specific events that made him who he was. Luka seemed to be the focal point of most of his recollections. The boy was everywhere in Kai's mind, and though the slate haired child seemed to be able to remember the other boys fairly well, he couldn't recall certain events in time that were drudgery or not important.

The main event though, that was missing entirely, was everything from when he saw Black Dranzer to when he woke up in the hospital without a memory in his head. Nothing existed in the recesses of his mind. He couldn't recall ever seeing the blade. Whenever asked about it in a covert way, he'd stare at them blankly, eyes fogged over in confusion and misunderstanding.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He'd reply coldly, not really able to answer them with anything more then that. They would drop it and move on, yet they were certain that there had to have been something left behind from the experience. Voltaire allowed the tests because he too wanted to find out just what was going on in his grandson's head.

They connected various wires and cables to Kai's skull, positioning him at a dish and having a man stand in front of him. The adolescent looked at him skeptically but didn't say much. Every thought that was in his head was recorded on a computer screen, blips and waves forming with each electric signal sent from the right brain to the left.

"What is your name?" The man asked him. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?" He asked calmly, his waves blipping as the thought was recorded. The questioner sputtered, he looked at his boss who nodded for him to continue.

"You real name."

"That's really none of your business, but you can call me Kai Hiwatari." The boy smirked; if he was going to be used as a lab rat (for it was clear that despite his lack of understanding to the purpose of the experiment, he most certainly was aware of what was happening around him) he was going to be a resilient one till the end.

"How old are you?"

"In which country?"

"What?"

"In Asian countries the age of a person starts the moment that they are born. They are one year old in that moment, and on the next new years they advance one year. Thus I could be eleven; or ten if you follow the western way of tracking your age. That of course starts at zero and moves onwards with each three-hundred and sixty-five and a quarter rotation to return to the year mark of the day I was born." The muscle on the man's face twitched. Voltaire laughed though, his eyes glittering with pride. Kai was not going to let anyone push him over. He was not going to allow someone to think they could control him. Boris had tried to do that, and Kai wouldn't let it happen again.

"Who is Luka?" Clearly his wise comment had been ignored.

"He's an actor in _Prica iz Hrvatske._"

"Are you getting anything?" Michaels asked his technician who was reviewing the responses on his screen. The man looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"You mean on the brain waves for sarcasm? Yeah I got it all right here. He's right in the normal range, in between deadpan and irony." The man replied as he rolled his eyes. At Michael's pointed look though he coughed and moved on. "He's a normal kid, nothing wrong with his answers. If anything he's just above the normal level on how to be a stubborn punk. His reaction time in being a smart ass is just a bit faster then normal, but that's subject to fluctuate. I don't think an encounter with a sacred spirit is going to affect his rate of come backs."

"God help us if that's what it does do though. I don't want to deal with any of those boys if they're hyped up on smart comments after they experience full on puberty." Michaels said as he shook his head. He motioned for the test to move to its next objective. The man before Kai removed a beyblade and handed it to him.

"I've got my own." The boy replied, refusing to even look at the blade as he removed Dranzer from his pocket.

"We need to record you status with this first, then you can use Dranzer kiddo." Michaels called over.

"Don't call me kiddo." The slate haired boy hissed, red eyes flashing dangerously at his direction. There was a beep and Michaels looked at the technician who jumped.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, looking at the screen where one of the waves spiked far higher then any of the others.

"Nothing, back up flare from residual afterthoughts, it all came in at once."

"How can you be sure?"

"It's nothing, he just thought too many thoughts at once and it over powered his receptors, they all came in at once. Nothing out of the ordinary – you did piss him off."

"Should I do it again?"

"Nah, we'll never get him to cooperate if you do." The man shrugged as he reached for his bag of potato chips on the desk.

"You're a real role model Harrison." Michaels said as he shook his head. The man snorted and laughed.

"I do brain things, I'm a brain guy, I play with computers and read brain waves. I don't do baby sitting or kids. That's your new job apparently." Michaels glared at him, showing him he certainly was not amused by the comment.

The man in front of Kai went over to a set up in the corner and pushed a button. While Kai placed his borrowed blade into a launcher and prepared himself, the dish started to appear. It was a normal training dish with a few obstacles. There were cups placed here and there that were supposed to be avoided and there were a few dips and bumps in the dish to provide a slight challenge.

It all looked so easy to the young blader who was frowning at the dish in disappointment. If that was the best that the BBASS could come up with, he was annoyed. It was so simple and so boring looking that it was practically an insult. Did they really think so little of him? He beat this same obstacle course when he was three. He could barely launch the blade when he was three!

Shaking his head he waited for the go ahead and then he launched his blade with striking skill and power. The plain thing shot out, and spun in the center of the dish looking normal and boring. Raising an eye Kai looked at the new challenge for all of three seconds. The blade he'd always used was always Dranzer. She had always been there to connect with his soul and so moving her had never been a problem before. This blade had no sacred spirit though.

Sighing he just touched the launcher and pressed down on the device that was there. The blade snapped to attention and shot to the right instantly. It was a simple matter of controlling the blade's movements with the launcher. Any starting beyblader knew that. He had noticed the control system when he'd been handed the launcher, but he hadn't thought he'd use it – especially considering the fact that he'd never done so in the past.

Still it was easy enough to figure out. He could control where the blade went by a movement of the fingers, not to hard to deal with and soon enough everything was instinct. He sent the blade careening towards the first cup, and at the last second it dodged to the left and cut around the cup. It was so completely trivial and boring that he was annoyed by it.

He closed his eyes, and sighed. There was no challenge at all. In his mind he could see the dish perfectly clear. He could see everything. The dimensions of the room were engrained into his memory and he had no problem at all in keeping track of his blade's progress with his eyes shut. He could make it dodge around things because his memory brought the image to his head.

It was as simple as that, once he'd memorized the blade's movements, there was no harm at all in him closing his eyes and just waiting out their task, boring as it may have been. He spun about the dish a few more times and completely lost himself in the mental image of the world.

"I don't believe this." The technician was looking at the screen with his jaw dropped. The blips that were appearing were unbelievable, they shouldn't have even existed, and yet there they were. Perfectly sound proof of what the boy's brain was doing. Michaels looked over his shoulder.

"Talk to me." He commanded softly.

"His reaction time surpasses all of the set records to date. Not only that- he triples them! Of the various sections of his brain, he's concentrating on memory, and his memory is what's feeding him his information. Look at him, kid's not even looking at the dish. He's off in lala land while he's unconsciously setting world records!"

"That's strange." The tone of his voice made it seem like he wasn't all that surprised though. The man looked up at his boss in confusion.

"What is it Michaels?"

"His results are odder then that. He's never even used this type of launching and controlling system before. As far as Voltaire's told me, he's been using a standard non-remote linked blade. He shouldn't be able to function as well on this level. I wonder what he does with his real blade…Hey Kai, that's enough!" Michaels called over, and almost instantly the blade had popped from the dish and had slapped firmly into the boy's hand. The spike on the screen that showed it was impressive. Harrison was still goggling at it when Michaels told the boy to switch to his Dranzer.

That was something that Kai was actually looking forward to. He dropped the borrowed equipment without a second thought and he placed _his_ beyblade into _his _launcher and he fell into the stance that was drilled into his mind. This was going to be pie. The dish changed though, and he watched it as it did. The terrain was much more bumpy, and there were spots that if the blade fell into it would instantly stop the rotation of the top. He programmed all that he saw into his mind and he waited for the order to release.

He was given it, and that was that. He reached out with his soul, there was no need to even think about the foolish launching system that was a clear beginners tool. He wasn't that inexperienced. He had his pride after all. His mind calmed instantly as he felt the presence of his bit beast in his body.

Dranzer soared through his veins, her very presence acting as an elixir that sent him into the same quiet and calm state he always felt with her near him. He didn't need to commit the dish to memory; he had only to trust in Dranzer. Standing perfectly still he felt all of his muscles loosen up, his face relaxed perfectly and his body was at ease.

He felt better then he'd ever felt before. Dranzer sang in his ears and as the blade spun and hopped and skipped about the dish with a grace that was unfathomable, he felt himself get only calmer and a feeling of freedom overcame him.

He felt his lips quirk into a brief smile, but he didn't care if anyone saw. He only wanted to spin his blade. Dranzer sang in his ear, singing softly to him some song from long ago. He could vaguely remember seeing his mother working tirelessly on a long white scarf – a gift for his father – she'd been humming the same simple tune. It was soft and sweet and it was a memory of home. He felt himself become lulled by it. It was so peaceful in his mind, and there was nothing that could possibly happen to him if Dranzer was by his side.

Memories of his mother then shifted to Luka. The boy sitting next to him as they listened to their mother as she sang. That was the memory that persisted. Then Luka looked at him, his eyes slashed by a whip. Glasses adorned his face. He looked young and old at the same time. He was going to say something but –

"Kai?" Dranzer shot into his out stretched hand and the boy turned and looked at Michaels who was staring at him in shock.

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Michaels didn't say anything though. On the screen that he'd been looking at with Harrison, there had been the unexplainable.

Kai's brainwaves had completely ceased. His blade had picked up such speed and ferocity that it was dancing without a care in the world through all the traps that the dish had to offer. It was faster then the speed of sound and yet Kai's brainwaves had decreased. They'd decreased so far and so fast that the technician was actually starting to become terrified. He couldn't believe what he'd been seeing.

No one could just stop all thoughts to and from the brain while they were engaged in physical activity. It just was not possible. Yet Kai had done it. He had stood there with a completely blank look on his face and fallen into a sort of trance, and his blade had broken every record he'd set only moments before by ten fold. His reaction time was unparalleled. It was impossible to think about what he could have peaked at with the real Black Dranzer, it was totally impossible, and there wasn't even an enemy challenging him on this.

Michaels shook his head; he was in a state of awe at the fact that the boy had done all that without even thinking one thought. Suddenly though, there was a huge spike, the memory division of the boy's brain had gone off the charts, it had gone from zero activity to a full blown over load melt down, that Harrison actually jumped with surprise.

"What's he thinking of?" Michael asked, and the man stared at him incredulously for a moment before plugging in a few commands and pulling up another program. The screen had faded into a system of colors and the audio produced the Phoenix song that Kai was listening to Dranzer sing to him.

The watchers had been able to see everything that Kai had been thinking of as he'd done the impossible over and over again. Only when the song cut abruptly and a picture of Luka's broken and bruised face appearing on the screen did Michaels call it quits and yell for Kai to snap out of it.

The boy looked at him in confusion, as though he didn't understand what had just happened, yet he had done it. He had gone through everything and he had done what they'd asked for. He'd done far more then they'd expected him to do, and he hadn't even tried out their program yet. It was a computer program designed to copy all the information on Black Dranzer into the boy's mind. Then, in a state of practical hallucination the boy would blade as though he were using the beast of darkness itself. It was something that was the peak of their research that day, and yet already Kai had surpassed everything that they had hoped to discover. Truly, Kai was an enigma.

Back in the Abbey, Tala was blading some nameless blader that he'd never seen or cared much about. He was barely concentrating, his mind wandering to a different time and place and he hardly could stay focused. That was his problem after all. Ever since he was a boy he couldn't keep himself concentrated on one thing at a time. He was always wandering around in his head as he tried to think of what he was supposed to be doing.

The cognitive thinking was starting to get annoying though; thinking about thinking was something that he truly didn't want to deal with at the moment. He heard a scream and he looked up. Apparently Wolborg had defeated his nameless foe, and the boy had disappeared into the floor beneath them. Tala sighed, he hated this place.

He looked to his left and saw that the match next to him was just about to come to an end. That was where he was supposed to go when he'd completed his match, and he shook his head slightly. Walking towards them he looked at the dish. It was clear that the boy in front of him was going to lose. Little Yusef was not cut out for a battle with a Hazard. The child was lucky he'd made it even that far. Moments later a blade went flying and the floor opened up to swallow him whole. Luka sighed heavily and reached a hand up to his face, he was still trying to get used to the wire glasses that were now essential to his daily tasks.

Temporarily blinded he moved forward with little care for his surroundings, assuming that the floor had righted itself as it always did after a child disappeared into the dark. He felt something hit his shin and he stumbled forward to catch himself. He gasped when his foot touched nothing. He barely even recognized Ian's startled shout as he fell into the darkness. His last sight of anything was Mikhail as he stood at the dish across from him sneering as though Tala had always been, and now literally would be, beneath him.

The floor closed up behind him as soon as he disappeared down below, and silence filled the room. The guards didn't know quite what to do. They couldn't believe that Tala had actually fallen into the hole. They looked at each other, horror filling their eyes. This wouldn't be good at all.

Nobody who went into those holes ever was seen alive again, there was no other way out of it. They'd never bothered to deal with it. It was a chasm of death, and there would be no way to get the boy out. He was going to rot there with the rest of the rejects, forever. And there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.


	11. Interlude

**Windstar: **This is one of the chapters in this story that I think I really like. Mostly because of what happens in it. It is a past perspective story that shed some light on just how it is the "watcher" came a hold of the video they're watching. It also shows you what's going on while the video is taking place. Like I said before, there are several arcs that this story will take. The current one is set in the investigation and ISA phase.

There is one thing that everyone should be aware of. I will be making a side story to this that will take place on a chapter that's comeing up in the future. I do not think that that side story will be very long - at most probobly six chapters. However, once you read the upcoming one that will be in THIS story, you'll understand why I made it a side one. Look forward to that chapter in about six or seven updates. It's in the future, I know, but I've been working on it to make sure that everything is flowing appropriately. I'm about three chapters ahead though, but it's heading towards a very climactic moment that will need a side story to follow up on it.

The arc immediately after this one will be focusing a lot on Bryan, Spencer, and Ian. Kai will not be as prominent, and Tala and Anna WILL NOT BE IN THAT ARC. You'll understand why when you get there. :)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What you need to know for this chapter is that you're finally going to see what happened right after the tournament. We all know that there was a car chase scene and then Anna randomly appears in the hospital. Michaels wasn't there though, someone else was. We find out why, and what on Earth ever did happen to Boris after all of this? Also we see just what it was that made the others get so fed up with the Demolition Boys at long last.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

**Chapter Ten:**

That seemed like a good place to stop. To the beybladers that were all assimilated in that hotel room, they couldn't go on any more. They were to busy trying to sort out their feelings on the matter, and they couldn't continue to watch Tala and the Demolition Boys plight nonstop. It was to much to take in; in such a short period of time.

Tala Valkov Ivanov had to have had an angel on his shoulder while he was growing up. He went from one near life experience to the next without so much as breaking a sweat. Maybe his luck had run out though…he was after all laying in a hospital bed near death at the moment.

Tyson stood up and started to move towards the door. He took a deep breath, and Max glanced at him. The navy hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and the boy's hat was gripped in his hand. He looked distraught, and he didn't appear to be able to sort out the pain that was in his head. Shaking his bangs from his face he looked back at the blonde who was staring at him worriedly.

"I just…need to take a walk. I'll be back in a little while." Tyson muttered. The blonde nodded and then jumped to his side.

"I'll go with you!" The movie put temporarily on hold, the teams of the world went about their business. They needed to distract themselves from the haunting images of the past, and it was getting far too late already.

Rei and Mariah decided to head down to the shop across the street and pick up some breakfast for everyone. They needed to take a walk as well, and being trapped in that room was making it far to tempting to touch the remote and continue to spy into the lives of the Demolition Boys.

They could hardly believe that the people that they'd done nothing but curse at and berate for the past few weeks were actually saviors of their planet. Boris truly would have gone forth and destroyed the world had he had the chance. Yet everything that Kai had done and everything that he had worked for with his brother and companions had halted those actions.

Even if they didn't watch the rest of the video (which was far to tempting to not do) their opinions of the boys had changed. From what Tyson had said, Bryan was actually quite humorous during the car ride to the lake where the fire fight had taken place. He had made jokes and he had laughed and teased Kai who indulged him with a smirk as he'd been driving crazily through the world.

They could really believe that the Demolition Boys had done what they'd done. There were some inconsistencies with everything though. Anna was Anna Ottiila, and yet she'd introduced herself as Anna Jones. Why the sudden name change? It made no sense.

They were sure the answers would be reviled as the tapes went on. It didn't make any sense for them not to. Mariah gently took Rei by the hand and helped the injured boy as they left the hotel and started down the street. They needed some fresh air, even if Rei's injuries prevented them from going fast, they still attempted to make a half way decent pace through the wilds of the Moskva.

"I can't believe all of that…" Mariah whispered quietly. She was thinking about the horrified look on Byran's face when he'd seen his dearest companion so horribly injured after the encounter with Boris. Bryan himself had placed some of the scars on the boy's body, and Tala's hand hosted a long scar from where he'd blocked the knife with on that fateful day.

Bryan was not intentionally aiming to harm Tala, in fact, it looked like he barely had any idea what was happening. When he'd lost he'd been so stunned that Tala had knocked him to the ground that he was almost pitiful. Luka never once thought it was his fault that anything had happened, he never blamed his friend. In fact, they were still very close. Yet it was proof and testament to just what Bryan's tentative mental state was. He was trapped in a vicious system that sought only for their death and their punishment and he was being lost in it.

The fight with Rei hadn't been an act to truly try to hurt the boy, it had been the only way he truly knew how to beyblade, and it was clear that he didn't truly mean for Rei to have been harmed.

The two companions walked down the street corner, and from somewhere they heard the ringing of the hour marked bell. They made it to the store that they were hoping to get some breakfast from. They stepped inside, and they huddled in at the back of the line as they thought about their orders.

Such a normal thing that was so simple to them must have been magic to the boys on their first real outing into the real world. They all could remember the looks on the three Abbey raised boys that had never had the graces of the Ivanov's upbringing to know what even simple meals were like. The thought of there being a pork roast or a steak was something that they'd never considered, they were only given high protein filled meals of mush that they couldn't even begin to describe in the Abbey.

They had been stunned at the meals before them. Even Tala looked surprised when the meals had first started being eaten. Only a week or so afterwards did it appear like the boys were settling down and getting used to the rich and delicious meals that were being served. At first the new food made them sick, but after a while their stomachs grew used to it and they grew cravings for the succulent food.

Vaguely Rei wondered if they had ever ordered a meal at a restaurant or had the privilege of walking into a diner and requesting for something. He wondered if they ever had been in the position in which they could act like normal kids. If they'd ever even tried sweets.

If he could recall correctly though, Kai never touched anything with sugar in it. He steered clear of it, and went for more bland foods. He didn't truly eat anything that had a lot of spices in it, and he was very comfortable surviving on only one cup of sticky rice. Now that he thought about it, Kai didn't even eat some of the cake that had been served after they'd won the championship. He had nibbled to be polite, but then the plate was gone (dumped into the garbage?)

Rei shivered as he thought of that day. The day when after the festivities, they had stepped outside into the cold. Kai had laughed for the first real time and challenged Tyson to a match, saying bluntly that he was no longer a Bladebreaker. Tyson had been surprised at first, but Rei and Max echoed the calls for the challenge. Only moments later Kai had looked up at the boy he'd called Luka.

He hadn't really been recognizable then. In the few hours after the championship had been over, Tala Ivanov had experienced a transformation. His spiked red hair had been laying flat on his face, his eyes were no longer shimmering with hatred. That white coat that had to have been brand new…it looked like it had never been worn before, shimmered beautifully in contrast to his dark red locks.

The boy looked so different, so calm and serene that none of the Bladebreakers knew it was him until it was called to all of their attention that the boy that had been shot at on the lake was none other then the vicious and cruel blader that had even gone so far as to freeze the entire arena floor for his beybattle.

Then again…even from afar, after watching the videos, Rei could easily accept that Tala truly had purposefully forfeited the match. Tala had gone head to head with Black Dranzer when he was just a child, and he had come out mostly on top. He fought with a skill level that was far above anything Rei had ever seen, and when that was when he was not even old enough to enter any national competitions, it was supremely unlikely that the boy would have been beaten by Tyson – astounding rookie though he may have been.

"Rei, look, isn't that Bryan?" Mariah was pointing outside, and the boy turned his head and caught sight of the other child. He was walking through the streets, his head ducked down and a breath of fog coming from his lips. He tugged his jacket closer to him for a moment before letting it go without much concern. He didn't appear to care much about the cold after that. He glanced this way and that occasionally, but kept his pace even.

He stopped just when he was about to disappear from their line of sight, and it looked like he was waiting. A moment passed, then another, and another. After nearly three minutes, someone met up with him and the two started walking quietly down the streets. Rei looked at Mariah who nodded quickly and the two of them were after the Falcon blader and his companion in moments.

They recognized the man next to him after a few minutes, it was the man they'd met at the hospital…Christopher Hughes? The business man looked exhausted, as though he'd been through more stress in the past few hours then he had accumulated throughout his entire life.

"He's dead then?" Rei couldn't help the gasp that caught in his throat. They couldn't have been talking about Tala could they have? That wasn't possible. When they left the hospital…it looked like everything was just starting to be alright. The boy was going to pull through it. He could remember clearly Kai's hand around Anna's as he claimed her to be his future sister in law. He remembered the doctors saying that everything was going to turn out for the best.

"Yes, we found his body this morning." The business man replied to Bryan's soft question. It was strange hearing the teen's voice so quiet and resigned. It was almost as though someone had possessed him during that beyblading match, and when the spirit left this empty shell of a person was left behind.

"How did no one notice?" Bryan choked, he looked like he might even shed a tear, and Christopher sighed heavily. The man reached up and touched the other on the arm.

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss…"

"He was family to us." Mariah felt tears pooling in her eyes. The news of Tala's apparent death was horrible. They couldn't believe it. It was something that was earth shattering. After all that he had done, on his liberation day – Tala Ivanov had died.

"I know son. We're going to find the person who did this…"

"You already have him in custody." Bryan hissed hatefully.

"We can't be sure that Balkov had anything to do with his death." Christopher said softly. "There were no witnesses, and he'd already been taken into custody when the attack took place."

"He had to have done it – you saw Anya's face. The girl never could defend herself for shit. She was so shaken up that she said that she'd been shooting at the devil himself. I can't believe she never told us about this."

"With Luka in the hospital I'm sure she was having a hard time keeping everything together."

"I don't care. It took her twelve hours to tell someone about Michaels. What the hell is wrong with her?"

There was an instant amount of relief after that. The two Chinese children sighed slightly as tension rolled from their shoulders. Tala wasn't dead. Then another thought struck them. Michaels was. Somehow the man had died, and that meant that one of the few solid figures in the Demolition Boy's lives for the past six years had disappeared. The man who had been their coordinator and superior was dead, and they were clearly grieving from the loss.

"She…we weren't certain it _was _Michaels." Bryan glanced over to him.

"The face was unidentifiable. It was completely broken and pounded into powder. There weren't even teeth to identify. We only managed to confirmation from the identity plate that was in his arm." The man grimaced, and the two eaves droppers paled at the news.

"What the hell?"

"There's more Bryan…"

"What else?" It sounded like the boy didn't want to hear anything more; like it would be too much, like the knowledge would make him go over the edge. Yet like an addict presented with their drug of choice, he needed to have it. He needed to know.

"His body disappeared not long after it was identified."

"_What_?"

"Someone, apparently, kidnapped…or…stole…his corpse."

"Someone kidnapped a the leader of the ISABD's body out of a government building?!" Bryan glared heavily at the man, his anger evident.

"He wasn't in a government building, he was sent to the same hospital that Tala was in for identification."

"Why on earth did you do that?"

"We've started preparations to send out an investigative team in search of Michaels-"

"I want in."

"Bryan…you're no longer required to be an ISABD member, you've done enough and the paperwork for your resignation has already been compiled-"

"Compiled but not signed. I want in. Whichever sick sons of bitches took that man's body are going to pay. I'm going to see to it."

"You're to close to the deceased-"

"The deceased?! Listen to yourself Chris, the deceased!? That was Michaels! Michaels' body. Not one person in the ISABD hasn't heard of Michaels. You can't honestly tell me that there isn't a bias installed already."

"Be that as it may, you're not going to be on this case. End of story." They were getting ready to cross the street and Rei stepped just a little to close to them. Bryan's eyes snapped backwards, glaring hatefully at the boy. Instantly the conversation halted. The man from the hospital looked back at them and frowned. Mariah gripped Rei's arm in fear.

Bryan snorted though, turned on his heel and started down the street again. He didn't say a word, and the two children from China quickly decided that it was time to leave. Hurrying back the way they came they rushed as quickly as they could down the streets of Moskva. They didn't stop, they didn't hesitate, they only yearned for the safety of their hotel room.

Yet how safe could that room really have been, considering it was so easily broken into by a girl who was known to be the weakest link of the Demolition Boys' squad in the ISABD and the BBASS? The hotel was clearly in sight. It was just one block away.

Suddenly they lost sight of the building though. Their bodies went flying. They were both sent into the crevices of an alley no wider then the length of Kenny and no longer then half the distance from home plate to first. Trapped like mice, the two children stared up in horror as the demon eyes of Bryan Kuznetsov.

"Well well well…what do we have here? A couple of kitties caught with a bunch of yarn? Having fun…?" Bryan's eyes ran over Rei's body. He took in every cut scratch and bruise that had been caused during their battle. His eyes didn't waver in the slightest. He didn't appear to care in the least. Rei wondered if that was true, or if that was a front as well.

"We didn't mean to eavesdrop." Mariah said boldly, though her shaking body was all the proof that was needed to show just how scared she actually was. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not impressed by her show of bravado.

"Ah…so you were listening. Have a good laugh about that on your way back? About how one of the 'murderers' on our team were killed. I bet that it was, what did you say again… 'poetic justice?'"

"Brya-"

"Woah! I've moved from Kuznetsov to Bryan. I'm shocked." His menacing glower shone all the more. Rei flinched slightly at his tone.

"Bryan we didn't mean those things back at the hospital…" The lilac haired boy snickered, his mirth not quite meeting his eyes. He didn't look happy.

_Tala was laying on the bed. His eyes were closed and his face was pale. The hospital gown that was draped over him seemed to make him look so small and so fragile that it was hard to keep your eyes on him for to long. Kai's hand was in his the moment that they stepped into the room, and Anna looked like she was going to claim the other. She didn't though._

_From the window in the room, the other bladers watched as she picked up the hospital chart that was leaning on his bed and started to read it intently. She flipped the pages, she read the words and the graphs and then with a long sigh she passed it to Spencer. _

"_His biochemistry seems to have been check marked. They're going to want to run tests on him when he wakes up." She said softly as she went to check him over herself. Her tears had dried and now it seemed like she was in mission mode, ready for anything and alert. _

"_Michaels' can get him out of it. The ISA will want to take their own tests probably. Can you hack into him and wake him up now Anya?" Kai asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. _

"_I could…I'd need a laptop though." Bryan handed her a small palm pilot._

"_I nicked it from Chris when he first came in. It'll work right?" He explained as she started to break into the system._

"_Yeah, Tala's uplink isn't too hard to get into once you know the…I have his system on the line right now…and he's up." She clicked something on the palm pilot, and almost instantly blue eyes snapped open. _

_From the window Tyson yelped and jumped back in surprise, he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. The rest of the teams were staring in shock and horror as well. They couldn't understand what had just happened. Something that apparently was so simple and natural for the people in that room was so strange and horrifying to them._

_Ian looked over at Anna who was setting the palm pilot down gently on the table._

"_You're getting good at this. You only had a few days to prepare the uplink since it was modified right?" She smiled wistfully at him._

"_Luka, how are you doing?" Kai whispered, pressing his hand against his brother's forehead. The younger boy was staring up at the ceiling in confusion. _

"_I feel like I was shot." He whispered at long last._

"_I ran a system check while I was waking you up; your body's functions seem to be working normally. Apparently though, the bullet that hit your spleen really would have been deadly had it not been for Boris' tampering. Go figure huh?" Anna whispered as she moved closer, slipping her hand into her so called fiancé's and smiling gently to him._

"_Well _shoot _that's interesting." Tala sighed slightly and raised a hand to his eyes. He looked exhausted, and the others knew that. They'd indulge him a bit longer, but then they'd put him to sleep. It was crude, but they had the power. Anna could easily hack into his body's current mental main frame. They __knew he wouldn't protest though, he would sleep without question because he always did know when he couldn't take any more. _

"_God, he has to be okay if he's well enough to make puns." Spencer scoffed as he rolled his eyes. _

"_What happened to my-"_

"_Did you really think that they were going to put you under for surgery with contacts on little brother?" Kai asked with a snort. "You'll just have to deal with being blind for tonight. I'll grab your spare from the house later."_

"_You live with him!?" All eyes swung to the door where Tyson had entered seething. The others had quickly followed. They all wanted answers and Christopher and Mr. Dickenson weren't capable of keeping them all out. _

"_Is that Tyson?" Tala whispered quietly to Anna who had clenched his arm slightly, moving in front of him as though to shield him from their view. _

"_And his pathetic posse." She whispered softly. _

"_I suppose the secret's out…"_

"_Yes. Not that it matters.". _

"_Tyson, you all need to leave. I'll talk to you back at the hotel later tonight if you truly want me to, but-" Kai was interrupted quickly._

"_No, no way. You've deflected and lied to us for the last time you jack ass!" Tyson shouted, his temper rising to new levels. _

"_I never truly lied to you about anything." He whispered, though from his tone it was easily shown that he was hurt by the words. _

"_You lied to us about everything! You lied to us about every single thing since the beginning! Why we were going to Russia, why we were fighting so hard, why you were training us to death, why everything happened the way it did. I thought that maybe you were up front with us before the match, but no! You just lied some more."_

"_Tyson. I did not lie to you. I just didn't go out of my way to tell you the full truth. You all heard what you wanted to hear. That's that."_

"_Bull shit Kai!" Rei hissed, and Kai actually physically flinched at the tone. There was a low hissing from the corner; Bryan was starting to get pissed. "We all heard your story. We were all there remember! Not once did you mention anything about the Demolition Boys being on our side. Not once did you even consider filling us in on that. Instead you let them beat the shit out of us time and time again, and you willingly enabled them to steal our bit beasts-"_

"_You got them back." It was a weak excuse and Kai knew it. For the first time it looked like he didn't __have a pedestal to stand on. It looked like he was lost and confused. It looked like he wasn't sure how to deal with the teams before him. He was being crushed by them and his _brothers and sister _didn't appreciate it._

"_I suggest you all leave before you end up finding out just how easy we really did go on you all at the finals."_ _Bryan's voice was low and menacing, and Lee glared furiously at him._

"_I'll show you that we don't back down from anything, and we owe you a real ass whooping for how you treated Rei!" The boy raised his hands as though he was going to fight right then and there, Bryan didn't even move. He scoffed. _

"_If Rei couldn't handle a few bumps and bruises that's his concern and not yours. I didn't see you going out there to stop me. You stayed on your seat and you let it happen. He beat me. End of story."_

"_You let him win! You were going to let him win anyway and you beat him down!"_

"_If you're considering the few scrapes he's got on him as a beating, then I'd hate to show you what I'm really capable, I doubt you'd have a word for it. I did what I had to do to not have things go awry." The Russian shrugged as though he couldn't give a damn about Rei's injuries. _

_Bryan's words had echoed through their minds after that. _

"Quit blowing hot air!" He was sneering, laughing, as though he were enjoying himself.

"Hot air?" Rei had been truly confused as their blades clashed and danced with each other.

"And feel this breeze!" Everyone had screamed and yelled as another attack struck at Rei's body. "Awe don't like the wind? Well I have bad news for you, there's a tornado coming."

_Rei shivered at the thought of the brutal battle Kai's words weren't even remotely helpful. _"Be extra vigilant. He's not just out to snatch your bitbeast. He wants to destroy your beyblade, and you."_ If anything he seemed to not care what happened to Rei, and the realization made the boy furious as he stood in the hospital before his so called friend that had been defending the bastard who'd hurt him in the first place. He had said that Bio-Volt didn't scare him, and it had only been then that Kai had been seemingly interested. Yet his reply: _"Because I still have Drigger, and he doesn't." _That had only made Kai sigh and shake his head. It was as though he had already thought of that, and as if he didn't believe him in the slightest. _

_Kai had an eerie amount of knowledge when it came to Bryan's beyblading technique. It was startling actually. For someone who had said he really didn't spend too much time with the members of that team, he certainly knew enough about how they were raised and what they did to get to where they were. _"It's easy, [to use air as a moving weapon] if you train your bitbeast to attack the blader as well as the beyblade."

"_You're a bastard Kai." Rei hissed as he thought of his battle. Kai hadn't been cheering for him at all. He'd gotten away doing the bare minimum – seeming worried – and that had been that. Kai had been rooting for Bryan. He'd been rooting for the guy who had nearly killed him._

"_I wasn't the one who hurt you Rei…" Kai whispered, his gaze never wavering from his _friend's_ golden eyes. _

"_Tell me, who were you rooting for, Bryan or Rei?" Max asked as he stepped forwards, eyes flashing. __Kai hesitated for a brief moment._

"_You know I wanted Rei to win." He said simply._

"_Yeah, but that doesn't mean shit. You wanted me to win, but you were encouraging your little homicidal maniac over there-" Tyson snapped. _

"_Do not call him that!" Kai caught Bryan's arm and shouted at the same time. The Falcon blader had been going in for the kill and it had only been his intervention that had stopped it from happening. _

"_Why?! It's the truth! You and your team full of murderers are all like that aren't you!? Between their obsession with guns and you're jack assedness, I can't believe you haven't been turned in for crimes against society. It'd probably be poetic justice if you all died anyway!" There was silence after that. Kai's stunned expression stared deep into the eyes of Tyson who looked so infuriated by the fact that he'd been so brutally betrayed that he couldn't see the hurt in his _former _friend's eyes. _

_That didn't mean that the Hiwatari heir's _family_ hadn't noticed the horrified appearance of their dearest companion. The boy looked ready to cry. Something he never did. He never cried. The only times tears fell from his eyes were when his body did so involuntarily, and he couldn't help that. It was the damn sympathetic system of his body. He couldn't deal with that at all. _

_Bryan took a menacing step forward and Johnny stepped in between him and Tyson. He glared at him for a long moment. _

"_I agree that he probably went to far there, but you can't deny everything. You all lied purposefully towards us and robbed us of a truth we deserved. You made fools and idiots out of us all needlessly and with conviction. I believe that his words were said in anger and hate, but they were well deserved regardless."_

"_Get out." Bryan hissed. His eyes were flashing dangerously. He looked ready to kill, and the European actually looked like he was going to falter for the first time. He glanced back to his friends. Enrique had started to step forwards. "Get out, before I show you just how much of a murderer I can become" There was a deafening click, a gun was pointed straight at Johnny's face and the boy froze. Gasps echoed through the room. _

"_For God's sake Bryan put the gun down." The soft whisper startled everyone. Anna was standing worriedly beside Tala who was still deathly pale and blinking unconsciously far too often. He had struggled to sit up, and now that he had he was shoving passed his girlfriend and starting to move to stand so he could face everyone. Anna reached out and assisted him to his feet. He thanked her quietly and though probably feeling drowsy and a massive amount of pain from the surgery, he moved to stand before them. "Bryan, I do believe I gave you a direct order. Put the gun down. _Now_." It fell to his side instantly. Purple eyes never wavered from his prey._

"_Luka. Get back in bed before you fall over. You're too heavy to be picking up every five minutes." Kai murmured softly. He didn't really seem to be paying much attention to his brother though. His eyes were vacant and lost. _

"_It's been hours since the last time I've so inconvenienced you, I clearly have several sets of five in which to call in a favor for." He moved forward and looked at every one of the bladers. "We lied to __you. We tricked you. We purposefully stole your bitbeasts so you'd be pissed off at us and you would come at us with everything you had. We gave them back to you, you've been told the truth, and you still hold the title (however meaningless you may perceive it to be). We had a mission with mission objectives and you were the teams that we needed to cheat and lie too to get what we needed to get. If you truly are taking cumbrance to that fact, then I'll beybattle you again Tyson and this time I won't let you win or hold back. If not, then get the _fuck _out of my hospital room and quit bashing my brothers senseless to rectify your perceived sense of justice. You're nothing but sniveling little cowards who have no idea what we've been through. If you insist on causing a scene then next time I won't stop Bryan from placing a bullet in each and every one of yours' brains. I didn't have to call him off. I have no problem issuing the order either. After all, we're still agents of a governmental black ops program; we have a license to kill."_

_There was silence, and then Mr. Dickenson coughed at the door. He shuffled all of the teens out of the room that weren't supposed to be there, and when the door closed, Tala fell into a dead faint. _

Bryan glared hatefully at Rei who was shirking back. Suddenly he didn't feel too good, and the teen before him made him realize all to quickly just how uncomfortable he felt at that moment.

"Let me make myself clear." Bryan stepped forward, glaring hatefully at them. "Kai is my little brother. He is one of my best friends. He means the world to me, and to our family. We may not seem like a family to you little dweebs, but that's exactly what we are. For six years we've been fighting for each other and for our mission, and the only time he ever let himself out of his shell long enough to make friends with someone else, it was thrown back in his face last night. You may think he's an antisocial bastard, and true, he can look like that, but he never once put you in a situation of harm that you didn't have to be in. He never once purposely tried to hurt you. He always took care of you all, and you threw it straight back at him.

"You didn't listen as he tried to explain, you rejected him and trashed him. He's the most social member of our group – aside from Anna, but you'll never meet her if I have anything to say about it – he talks to people far easier then we ever will. The rest of us don't talk to people easy unless it's in commands and orders. You fucked him over for the last time though. I will not let you harm him. I will not let you break his confidence in trying to make friends outside of his family. I will not let you hurt him any more then you already have. So stay the hell away from him. Stay away from us. Stay away from anything that we're involved with. I don't want to hear you laughing I don't want to hear you joking. I don't want to see your shadows when I walk down the street. If I do, I will end you. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Bryan was glowering. His eyes flashing hatefully.

Rei didn't say a word. He looked at Bryan, remembered everything and shook his head. He wouldn't agree to that. He wouldn't, and he couldn't. he wouldn't do anything like that to Kai. He was right when he said that Kai was shattered by what Tyson had said, and upon really looking at if, it was clear that Kai truly had attempted in some way to become close to them. However, he had struggled to understand and help them in his own way. He wasn't very vocal, but it seemed like that was a trait from the Abbey. None of the children there were. He wasn't very outgoing. He'd do the barest minimum to obtain perfection but he wouldn't struggle with useless things. He was straight forward and that was that. He had truly wanted their friendship, and they truly had shot him down solidly.

"Kai's still our friend…we were just mad about how we found out. What Tyson said was wrong. But-" Bryan was actually laughing. He was laughing loudly with squinted eyes and a hand on his stomach as though to calm himself.

"I see. So you feel guilty huh? Well save you're cries of woe. They're wasted on me. Just know that the next time you even think about harming or abusing a member of my family…and that includes Anna. She may not be our blood sister…but she's as close to any of us as the like."

"But…Kai isn't your _blood _brother either." Bryan smiled ever so slightly. It was eerie and it sent shivers down Rei and Mariah's backs. He raised up his hand and showed them his palm. There on his palm was a long thin scar. The same scar that Kai had on his palm, the same scar that had appeared briefly in Rei's sight in the hospital that all the boys sported. Scarred palms that reached and extended towards another like scar. They had all been blood brothers. They shared blood with each other and they made each other their true family. They were all bounded by that blood, and as Bryan walked away, the two teens walked back to the hotel with their head hanging low.

Bryan had a part of Kai that they would never share. The only way they could get close would be through watching the video. Watching what happened. They knew the end, but the beginning was what was lost to them. They would never have Kai's present. Kai was lost to them after the words said at the hospital. He was shattered into four thousand pieces and he was gone far away from them. There would be nothing really that they could do to mend the hurts.

The two walked slowly yet surely towards the hotel. They didn't feel any better, and their breakfast was forgotten. Sadness fell over them. They couldn't believe what had just happened. Michaels was dead, Kai was hurt by their terribly painful words, and Bryan seemed more human to them then they themselves felt that they were.

They walked up the stairs and as they did they saw Tyson and Max sitting at the top whispering quietly to each other. Mariah went on ahead, leaving Rei to talk to his teammates…or former teammates now that the competition was over. The two looked up when he stepped closer, and a silence fell over them all.

Rei felt like strangling Tyson; strangling him for all the wrongs that he'd committed by yelling so furiously at Kai. But Rei himself hadn't been too polite. He'd been hurt, and he hadn't wanted to listen to the boy even though everything would have been easily explained if they had.

Rei wondered faintly what would have happened if they had listened to Kai in the hospital. Tala's sightless eyes perhaps wouldn't have taken on that cold and commanding tone that promised pain and suffering should any dare to cross him. Bryan may not have threatened them with that gun. Kai might still have been their friend.

For a brief moment, Rei wondered what was happening with Kai, where was he? What was he doing? He looked at Tyson sternly. The boy looked supremely guilty. He was upset about everything that had happened, and he had a right to be. They all did. None more so, though, then the boy that would no longer be in their presence as a friend, ever again.

Miles away though, that very boy was sleeping soundly in his brother's hospital room. His head resting against the bed with his jacket draped about his shoulders. He was calm and quiet and he was sleeping with such innocence that when an enraged Bryan stormed in hatefully, it calmed the boy down quickly enough.

Anna looked up from where she'd been working on her laptop in the corner. Her eyes glancing over at the younger boy. He was struggling to stay calm, struggling to keep himself from screaming and waking up the boy that hadn't slept all night.

"Miss tell you anything?" She asked as she looked back down at her screen. She was working on something, perhaps another mission, perhaps just backing up data. Whatever it was it was important enough for her to be doing it in Tala's hospital room.

"Yeah, Michaels' body has disappeared." The girl looked up at him sharply. Her eyes flashing.

"What did you say?" She hissed.

"They don't know what happened to it. It just vanished. There's not even video surveillance on it." Tala shifted slightly under the covers, red hair falling onto his face as the sedatives kept him oblivious to everything. Kai remained motionless though, his long deep breaths filling the room.

"I'll check it out." She looked at her screen and started to type furiously. He made it to her side.

"You gonna use a back door?"

"Yeah, security feeds aren't too hard to crack into…especially when it's to our own building."

"He was in the morgue, his body wasn't at the ISABD."

"Why the hell not?" Bryan shrugged and leaned against the wall.

"I couldn't tell you. I got interrupted in my conversation by a few cats."

"Cats?" He nodded, looking slightly unsettled for a moment. "The kids from China?"

"Yeah, that pink haired fluff ball and Rei." A wry smile covered her face.

"What'd they have to say?"

"Not much. Something about how they didn't mean what they said yesterday." She nodded slowly. "What, you believe them?"

"I think they'll come to find that they don't know too much about anything in life, and that they shouldn't make opinions on topics that they don't fully understand." She replied before sighing heavily.

"Miss Chris certainly has no idea how to run an operation. What was he thinking sending Michaels' body to a regular hospital?"

"I couldn't begin to understand how that man thinks." Bryan glanced over to Tala and felt his body start to sag. "He going to be alright?"

"Yeah…if it wasn't for Boris' tampering, he would have died. Ironic isn't it? Still, the computer chip in his brain…that should get removed soon. There's no need for it to be in there, and if someone else figures out how to activate it…" She trailed off.

"I know I know. I'll talk to the guys at HQ. Voltaire'll foot the bill if they won't. You gonna wake up sleeping beauty any time soon?"

"Only after you get some rest. You're dead on your feet Bry."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Where're Ian and Spencer?"

"At the scene with the A team. They're looking for clues on just who killed Michaels."

"You should get some rest too."

"I will when I'm done with this." She looked down at the computer again and sighed.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm trying to get rid of the Black Dranzer system." She whispered. Bryan whipped around and from the bed Kai moaned ever so slightly, the name carving itself in his soul even as he slumbered on in unawares. "Technology like that…it shouldn't exist. Now that we know the extent of its power…we should get rid of it. I don't want Kai or Luka anywhere near that thing again."

"Yeah…last time didn't go over to well." She hummed her affirmative. "So only people who have defeated it can pilot the program huh?" She nodded. "So what does that mean about those Bladebreakers?" There was a long pause and then she looked up, completely seriously.

"That's another reason for dismantling it. I don't ever want to see those five touching something of this magnitude. They wouldn't know what it's capable of." Bryan looked over to her.

"Black Dranzer really ran deep into the system didn't it?" She nodded without saying anything. He sighed. "You think it could tell us about Michaels?"

"You volunteering to pilot it?" She glanced up at him skeptically. He shook his head.

"I don't want to think about what it'd show me." He looked at his hands, as though expecting to see blood there. His eyes stared at them, his pale thin hands that had been used to end countless lives, including the one that still haunted him to this day.

"Mikhail's death wasn't your fault." He scoffed.

"Bry, Boris would have killed him even if you hadn't. It would have just been another hand pulling the trigger. You can't beat yourself up about that forever."

"Just like how Tala's going to beat himself up for shooting you? Or Ian's going to let go of killing that boy in the Pit? Or Spencer's going to give up running over that kid last month? Or Kai's going to give up how he massacred all those people who died during the fire?" She didn't reply. She just looked at him levelly as though he would be able to figure it all out by himself. He shook his head. A quiet voice floated up from the bed though, and all eyes turned to look where Tala was blearily mumbling from where he lay.

"Bad things happen to good people Bry. They happen, and when they do, we move on. Good people do bad things so they can protect the good people in the world. It doesn't help anything if you dwell on it. You'll just drive yourself insane. Do you want a mental break down like I had?" Blue eyes blinked up innocently at his friend who couldn't break eye contact with him. "I was at the point where I wanted the world to die. I wanted everyone to die because that way everyone could feel the pain I felt. That's why I left. There was nothing I wanted to protect after that. There was nothing for me to protect. I'm not proud of leaving back then…but that's what happens when you let it get to you. That's what happens when you let it all build up and fester. It's been months Bry…you need to start to move on. Mikhail's death really wasn't your fault."

"Just four months from liberation…four God dammed months." The lilac haired boy whispered softly.

"Mikhail was warped far more then he ever let you see Bryan. He'd been crashing and burning ever since he knew he'd been responsible for a major part of our parents' deaths. Even if he'd been free…he wouldn't have been able to accept it. You gave him the only freedom where he could truly be at peace." Brayn moved to Tala's side and covered the boy's face with his hand.

"You're not supposed to be awake. Go back to sleep little brother." Was all he said, but he looked calmer then he had been earlier, and it was a start. After all that time, some wounds were just starting to mend.


	12. A Fight Between Friends

**Windstar: **I'm sure you're all a little annoyed, but this chapter is in fact one of the shorter ones. I'll have to apologize for that. It's actually one of the harder chapters to write too. What I've noticed is that it's harder and harder to keep you all away from the more present day stuff, and so things are starting to speed up a little. No I'm not going to write about every bi weekly meeting from now until they're sixteen...that would be insane! I just want to get a few chapters of normalcy down before I start throwing around things that are just going to make things more complicated. I think this arc has only about five more chapters left to it. Three of which are completed. I'll see if I can make the fourth and fifth (which is semi completed) meld together properly, and if I can't get that down then I'm going to have to make this arc just a bit longer. As I said before, there's going to be an intense focus on Bryan, Spencer, and Ian coming up, so if you're anxiously awaiting more information on those three, hang in there, I haven't forgotten them.

On a totally selfish note, I just want to bring to mention the fact that out of the hundreds of visitors I get to this story each day...only three people continually take the time to review. Now, maybe I'm just being selfish here, and hey, I love this story to much to stop. I just feel slightly irritated when I look down at my visitor page and see the number "600" and look at my reviews and see the number "37." Please take the time to let me know what you think. I want to know your feedback. I want to know what parts you like, and what parts you think need work. I'm also open to ideas. Maybe there's something I've missed you want to bring to my attention, or maybe there's something that you're dying to see happen.

Prospective love interests and the like wont occur unless you tell me. People getting their own in the end wont happen unless you bring it up. I write for myself, but I also write for you. A large part of me is dedicated to my reviewers. So lets see, if I can get two more people to drop me a reveiw, other then the three who dutifully review each and every time ( I LOVE YOU GUYS!) then I'll try my hardest to make the upcoming chapter after this even more intense with whatever it is you personally love the most. Let me know what you think, and let me know how you feel.

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter Eleven:**

Now that they had returned from their break, the watchers were calmer then they had been to start out with. Their senses had calmed down from the system overload, and they all looked a bit fresher in the face. Some of them had tried to get a few hours of sleep, but they hadn't really managed it in the end. They had been too much on their minds to really be able to think about anything.

Oliver looked like he'd been crying. Emily's eyes were puffy and Kenny was sitting next to her trying to make her cheer up, but he couldn't find much to be happy about. It looked like the boys had no luck or love in their lives at all. They simply went from one pain to the next, trudging onwards bravely and without much care about anything. There never seemed to be anything fun in their lives.

Rei walked inside with Tyson and Max trailing behind him. They had talked about what had happened in the hospital. They had decided that they were going to finish watching the video they'd been given, and then they were going to track down Kai and they were going to make him be their friend again. They were going to talk to him and show him that they were alright and that they could still be cool together.

Somehow though, Rei doubted the boy would even give them a second glance. He looked so stricken when Tyson had shouted at him. He'd almost appeared to lose his soul. Even if he did forgive them (eventually), Rei doubted they'd ever be as close as they were (and they hadn't been that close in the first place!)

Tyson sighed heavily and moved forwards, pressing the play button on the TV. The disk started up again, and there was a black screen for a moment. The date and time appeared, it was several hours after Tala had disappeared into the dark. Light slowly filtered in as the security camera showed the scene before them.

Bryan was looking at Tala as he leaned against the wall in his room. The redhead was still shivering even though it had been hours since he'd been taken out of the cold dark chasm of the Abbey. That punishment was one seemingly worse then death. There was no true helping it. Tala had been shaken badly, and there was little doubt on just how traumatized he'd be because of it.

"You okay little brother?" Bryan whispered as he pressed his hand against the still ice cold forehead of the boy. Blue eyes blinked up at him blearily. His glasses had been destroyed in the pit, and he hadn't bothered to put on his spare. He was to shaken to even think about seeing right.

"I'm good." He whispered. His voice was hollow though. It sounded almost like it was forced. There wasn't a stutter, Tala didn't stutter. Luka might have. The split personas seeming to have become more distinct over time. Vaguely Bryan wondered if it really had been Tala in the pit, or Luka. Luka would be terrified and shaking with fear and horror, Tala would ever be a soldier. He would look at the situation and handle it effectively, but for some reason he hadn't really done that.

Maybe it really was Luka: sweet, innocent Luka who would sit there and smile at everything, sweet little Luka who missed his mother and father and most of all Sacha. The boy was happy and loving and he enjoyed spending time with his friends at his grandfather's mansion. Luka was not a soldier. Luka was a baby who wanted only the freedom of living outside with the wilds around him and the peace it would give him.

Tala was the Abbey's soldier. Tala was the boy who would fight with every fiber of his being, with hate and anger and glaring eyes. Tala was a highly trained killing machine that would not hesitate in the slightest to attack and kill anything that stood in his way. Tala was Boris' brain child. He was the clay to that bastard's ideas. He could be easily molded and trained into becoming a weapon of mass destruction. Tala had no nightmares. He had no fear. He had only a steely gaze of cobalt blue.

"Tala…"

"I'm good Bry." Yet even as he spoke a shiver went through his body. He clutched his arms tighter and he shook his head slightly. He looked disbelieving as his body shivered uncontrollably. "Just cold."

Spencer pulled a blanket up around the boy. Ian looked on from not to far away. Nobody really knew what to say, and nobody really knew how to get the redhead to talk. Ian had seen everything briefly, and he looked rather sick himself. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to want to talk about what they'd seen either.

It seemed that everything would be put on hold. They weren't going to speak about anything while they could be watched. They weren't going to say anything that could violate their mission in any way. They would be silent because that silence was paramount.

The next morning Tala was still shaking, it didn't look like he'd gotten much sleep that night. He moved with the others through the halls and to their training center. All of the other children and even some of the guards seemed surprised to see him, but he ignored them. His face was cold and his body was threatening. Something had sparked within him and there were few traces of the sweet and innocent child that was Luka at heart.

They trained that day with little care, and when classes came along they filed in without much thought. Tala took his notes and he listened to everything the teacher before them said. He absorbed all the information while barely looking the least bit attentive. He looked like a motionless doll. He was practically an iron clad force that was sitting at attention. When he was asked questions he answered in the harsh and polite tone of an army raised soldier. Nothing more and nothing less.

Quite by accident, and completely unsure of how it truly had taken place, Boris had finally seemed to manage the thing that he had been working on for the past few years. He had finally managed to rid Tala Ivanov of all emotion. The boy didn't smile. He didn't smirk. His eyes held no light. There was no arch of a brow; there was no quirk of the nose. There was simply and totally nothing except a piercing stare of complete compliance. Luka was gone. He'd been put to sleep along with everything else that had happened.

By the time the bimonthly meeting came around, and the Demolition Boys were herded off to Voltaire's mansion, the demeanor hadn't changed in the slightest. In fact, if anything, the others had gotten used to how he was presenting himself. He looked out the window boredly without much of an expression on his face, and when they arrived he appeared like he would continue on with acting the same way that he always had.

Yet as he stepped up to the stoop, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. He took a deep breath, and raised a hand to his face. He breathed quietly for a few moments and his friends stared at him with worry. They wanted to know if he was alright, if he was okay. He didn't say anything. He just stood there and breathed in and out slowly until the door swung open.

Surprising everyone by flashing a bright smile, Tala grinned down at Anna who was looking at them happily. So startled was everyone by the complete change that they were speechless as he said their greetings for them and stepped inside.

"It's good to see you all; I didn't think that you'd all be allowed to come here."

"Yes well, it seems that Voltaire has applied some pressure to Boris. I heard the Hazards and the Maims will start having meetings with him as well just to keep appearances up." The girl nodded as Tala replied pleasantly enough. "Where's-"

"Luka!" Tala looked up, his eyes shining with light as Kai appeared at the top of the stairs. He wore a pair of green fatigued shorts and a T-shirt. Bare foot and without much of a care he jumped down the stairs and hugged him for a moment before doing similar treatment to the others. "It's great to see you all, have we got news for you!"

"Yeah…we have things to talk about too." Tala's back stiffened at Spencer's words. He glanced back at the blonde for a moment and the light appeared to vacate his eyes for just a brief second. Then it was back and the smile was back in place. The perfect actor. He wasn't Luka. He was still Tala - Tala who was trying ever so hard to be Luka for his brother who was ignorant to everything that was happening at the Abbey. Especially in front of Anna who had no idea about the horrors that occurred behind those walls.

Kai's face turned grave all of a sudden, he looked deep into Tala's cobalt eyes and for a moment he just stared at him. He seemed to read into his brother's soul. He read into it and he didn't like what he saw. He growled deep in his throat and glared hatefully at the boy before spinning to the others.

"What the hell did he do now?"

"What makes you think _I_ did anything?" The redhead asked, clearly offended.

"You're a glutton for punishment, if you think you'll get away with it." Bryan flinched at that, looking away with an unreadable expression on his face. He didn't seem to be too happy with the word choice.

Mikhail was right then. Yet it was hard to admit it. It was hard to admit that the boy who hated Tala more then any other had been right about him. Even Kai believed that Tala was slightly masochistic. Bryan clenched his fists. That wasn't what the redhead was at all. It wasn't what he was. Tala wasn't a glutton for punishment, he just didn't defend himself nearly as much as he should and could have. He put himself in situations to defend his friends…he didn't purposefully try to get hurt. That wasn't his intent at all.

"That's not true." He whispered coldly, and Kai glanced at him for a moment before waving it off. Tala was clearly being ignored as his protests on the matter hadn't even registered to the younger boy.

"What happened? Michaels hasn't told me diddly, he's been running all these tests lately and hasn't really kept me informed. Anna might know something, but she would have told me I think." That caught everyone's attention.

"Why would Anna know something? Girl can't even speak good Russian." Ian commented as he scratched his head slightly.

"Hey! I can too!" She had replied in slow but perfect Russian. Her name, the word speak and good, and Russian didn't go well together. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"She's been wandering around the ISA building while they've been doing their tests and stuff; she met some guy and has been helping him out lately with his gadgets. She's such a geek." The girl glowered at the slate haired child before spinning on her heel and walking out. It was easier then getting involved with his apparent prowess on what she'd been doing. "I don't know much about it, but apparently she's been fidgeting with computers and the like all morning. I don't know how she manages it either, considering she can barely read."

"She's learning, give her some credit, it has been months." Tala said softly, trying to smooth things over. "What tests are they doing?"

"Why don't you all come up here and I'll explain it myself? We'll be heading over to the ISA headquarters in a moment anyway and you'll be doing them too." Michaels was at the top of the stairs looking at them with concerned eyes. "Luka, we do need to talk about what happened. Ian, you too."

"I knew you were involved." Kai hissed lowly under his breath as he glared at his brother who shrugged.

"Yeah, but this time it really wasn't my fault." He replied softly as he started to walk up the stairs.

As they entered Voltaire's office (the man surprisingly wasn't there) a thick silence had started. The silence wore on for quite some time until at Michaels' polite cough to get things started; Ian and Tala glanced at each other. They, neither of them, wanted to say anything at all about what had taken place (apparently). Clearly there weren't any video cameras down there though, as the watchers had been denied the ability to actually see what had happened.

At long last though, hesitantly and quietly, Tala opened his mouth and started to explain just what had taken place in the pit. He glanced away though, not quite sure how he was supposed to phrase what had taken place. His entire world had been turned upside down because of that place, and he felt sick and violated. A bandage wrapped around his arm from where he'd been bitten. Just another bite from another creature. Just another scar to add to the collection. Ian cut in after a while, and Tala let him. After all, it seemed like Ian needed to say something or else he wouldn't be able to get it off his mind.

"It was awful." Ian whispered. "There are bodies down there…from all the children who have died." There was a heavy silence. "When you fall down there, you don't die, in fact you don't really get hurt because the tunnel brings you down in such a way that it's almost gentle to do so. On the floor though…on the floor there are remains of the people who have died from dehydration in there." Not starvation. Dehydration. The human body can go for months without food, but without water…only three days. Three long days of painful suffering and that's that. "After a while…people started to get vicious. They didn't want to be trapped down there. They started to eat each other…" Ian trailed off. He didn't look like he could continue.

Bryan hissed and shivered, Tala's hand dropped to the scar that was on his arm, and Kai looked ready to vomit. He looked at Tala who was pointedly avoiding his gaze. He didn't want to talk about the several hours he spent in the pit with the cannibal that wanted nothing more then to eat him to keep himself alive.

"There was only one boy still alive down there when I went down…besides that day's delivery of failures. He'd been surviving by drinking the blood of the boys he was killing, and eating their muscle for protein." Tala muttered softly. "He came after Yousef and I got in the way." He held up his arm as if to show what he meant. "Wolborg provided enough light though to blind him in the dark…that held him off a bit until he got used to it. He went after me first, but Wolborg held him back. Yousef though ended up tripping on one of the bodies and…landed on Wolborg. She couldn't materialize properly without her blade really working, and so that…kid…came after us again. Ian showed up just when he ended up tackling me."

Deathly silence filled the room. No one spoke. All eyes went to Ian who was pale and looking miserable. "I pulled him off and fended him off but… the kid just dropped dead. I didn't even hit him all that hard, but I guess his body couldn't handle it." He sighed heavily. The death of the boy sent shivers down everyone's spines. Ian hadn't meant to do it, but he'd killed someone.

Michaels was looking at him sternly. He wanted to press for more details, but he knew that he wasn't going to be able to get them for a while. Ian was terribly heartbroken with the thought of killing that boy. He was completely and totally heart broken about it. It was too bad really, and it was something that was going to haunt the boy if he let it.

"Ian showed up not long after and we sent up the boys that were still alive and then we went up. Case closed end of story. We got Wolborg and Wyborg to memorize the scenes, they could probably be used and converted to be changed into data if we tried real hard. Ian set up an uplink so there can be a visual down there as well…it's small and won't be found, but the battery'll die soon. It'll probably last only a few more days and that's it.

Tala shook his head at Kai's worried look. He sighed instead, and leaned back against the wall behind him. He was so tired and so sick of seeing Kai's worried face. Weariness was catching up to him.

"Boris' sick way of weeding out the children considered less worthy is now recorded…if I thought we had enough to pin it on him, I would close this case now…however…" Michaels trailed off. Everyone knew what he was going to say, and they agreed with him. It didn't make them feel any better about it though.

"Circumstantial evidence. It's not murder if they are killing each other down there. Nothing truly solid that would stick on Balkov." Spencer sighed. He knew it just as much as everyone else. Ian shuddered. He didn't want to think about that place a moment longer. Tala allowed a shiver to run down his spine as well. That pit was the stuff of nightmares. Nightmares that they were most certainly going to have.

"Damn him." He whispered softly. He sighed though and shook his head. "What can be done now? What's Kai's end looking like?" Kai straightened and started to explain.

"Basically they've started to run tests on me, trying to compare me to a scale of averages and see where I rank. They need to record all of our various levels of training and record it so it can all be used in court."

"What kind of tests?" Bryan whispered. He made no secret about how he felt about tests. Even the watchers could understand where he was coming from on that note. Every time that boy went someplace, the doctors of the Abbey would be dogging his footsteps and pumping him full of drugs. They would pin him down and do strange things to his body. He was uncomfortable around doctors, and he had a reason to be, they were never anything good.

"Reading, writing, language, physical ability, and brain wave functioning during all of the above. No injections or the like Bry." Kai soothed naturally, using a nickname as his way of trying to affirm that everything was going to be alright. Bryan nodded slowly. He trusted Kai with his life, and if he said that everything was going to be fine, then he believed him.

"Doesn't sound too bad." He said simply. He was trying to make the best out of things and Kai smiled, appreciating the effort. The watchers felt their hearts sink. That smile looked so beautiful on Kai's face. He had that boyish innocence when he smiled. It radiated his face and made him all the more good looking. No one could say that his smile wasn't radiant.

It was also something that none of them had ever seen. Smirks and scoffs were all they were every privy to. Here he was smiling that radiant smile, and showing them quite clearly that he didn't think anything of them because he'd never allowed them to be a part of his world.

"Yeah, no straps or restraints, I promise." Michaels muttered softly. "Besides, you all need to get your access cards and information into the database. Anna and Korg will occupy themselves in the lab while we're busy, I'm sure." He rolled his eyes.

"Who's Korg?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Korg's our leading engineer and computer wiz. He trains all of the incoming agents on how to operate their equipment and he's in charge of all of the tech stuff that happens on the base. You want a hacker, he's your guy. You want something built out of nothing, that's your man. A jack of all trades as long as it has to do with fiddling with electronics." Michaels replied sounding very much like a commercial, and as though he were advertising Korg to the world.

"What's Anna even doing in that building?" Tala mumbled softly, ignoring the infomercial. "She shouldn't be there at all."

"I brought her the first time, and she's just come ever since – holing up in Korg's laboratory. That guy literally looks like a mad scientist. Glasses, hair, and all." Tala fidgeted with his own frames for a moment as Kai explained. He was still self conscious about them. This was his second pair, and apparently he was getting another set made for him. Michaels coughed quietly.

"Well…actually…Anna's a member of the ISA's tech squad."

"_What_?" Kai spun around, hissing angrily and glaring with a passion. He looked ready to absolutely kill Michaels. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a threatening step towards him, but Tala gently pulled him back.

"Listen to him for a moment before you get yourself all worked up little brother." He whispered softly.

"You're the little brother." He muttered back indigently.

"Not when you're acting like a toddler who was told he couldn't have candy for dinner."

"Korg took a liking to her, and wanted her as an assistant since she'd been helping him out for the past two weeks. He said he might as well make her official since she'd been hanging around for so long and will continue doing so in the future."

"She doesn't speak Russian!" Kai snapped, he couldn't believe that Anna had done something as foolhardy as joining the ISA. She couldn't speak the language, she couldn't read it, she couldn't communicate her thoughts well enough, and she was a dumb little girl. It was infuriating!

"I wasn't aware that that was a requirement. I gave the okay because Korg's going to train her to be an intel officer. She's going to be giving you your feeds when it comes to your missions. She'll collect and compile all of your data. I thought you'd like having someone you knew as your comm. Rep." Michaels shrugged. He wasn't going to let these boys think hat they were running the show. They weren't, and it was about time that they figured that out. Tala seemed oddly annoyed about this, even Bryan, Spencer, and Ian looked agitated. They didn't seem to approve at all with the decision, though they weren't nearly as vocal about it as they could have been so far. Kai though, Kai was infuriated. He was ready to strangle the girl he was so mad. He couldn't believe his ears. Not possible. Not little Anna.

"Not Anna. She's not apart of this." Kai was glowering, fire streaming from his eyes.

"Oh, so when competitions start, Boris won't mind in the least seeing _you _chattering away with the boys? He won't try to get you back into the Abbey right? He won't threaten you with their safety, right?"

"Not Anna."

"I have to agree, we're not up yet for a while, the Hazards-" Tala tried, but he was cut off instantly

"Kai will be the same boat for that too. Boris will be there. He can't be the on hand person. If he is then Boris will just wrap his slimy hands around him and bring him back to the Abbey. We can't have another incident like the last time he was there. I don't know much about the construction of that blade, but it was drawing to him, and him being there is going to be to much of a risk. He can't get entangled in that. There's a reason he's not back in that place helping you all, and it's not because we like him better."

"Why the hell am I even here then!?" Kai shouted angrily. Michaels glared at him. Hard. He wasn't looking too pleased at the moment. In fact, he looked rather angry himself.

"I tried telling you that, but you didn't listen to me now did you? Starting tomorrow my boss will be evaluating you and you're going to be assigned a mission level status. You'll be running intel most likely, just like Anna. She'll just be the Hazards, Maims, and Demolition Boys' _number one fan._"

"Why didn't I get consulted on this?!"

"Because you're a ten year old brat who can't seem to get it through his head just how to run a delicate operation." Tala stepped forward and once again stopped Kai from advancing on Michaels.

"Quit instigating him on purpose." He ordered coldly, eyes flashing with a danger that hadn't been there before. He looked every bit as dangerous as he always claimed to be. Kai crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't want to back down from this, but with Tala's seething glare practically ordering for the end of the fight, he knew that it was something that he wasn't going to get any farther on.

Michaels just shrugged and started to talk about what they were going to do. They needed to leave soon for the ISA headquarters. Once there they were going to go through a battery of tests, the most important being the brainwave recordings that occurred during beybattles. Kai's strange readings couldn't be denied. If they were the cause of Black Dranzer's exposure to him or if they were the result of training at the Abbey was the question. If it was Black Dranzer though...they needed to figure out just what that beyblade was...getting it and recording all data on it was paramount if they wanted to understand it.

Boris' weapon was Black Dranzer, and so far only one person had ever launched it and had any sort of success in controlling it (even if it was chaos and destruction). Luckily that person was in their hands, and not in Boris'. That wouldn't last for long, he knew it as much as anyone else did, one of these days Kai would have to go back to the Abbey. It'd be the only way to tie the knot on everything.

The screen faded, and when it came back, Tala and Kai were standing across from each other in front of a beydish. Tala squirmed slightly as people were placing sensors on his head and chest. They were trying to record his data just as they'd done to Kai not to long before. Kai was huffing slightly as he shifted from one foot to the other. He too was being dressed up for the recording process.

Harrison Kyle was running the data feed just like he'd done the time before and he was tapping away on his computer. Bringing up the past results for comparison and several other files he prepared himself for the match that was about to occur.

Tala looked at his brother once he was finally left alone, and he grinned slightly. It'd be the first time in a long while that the two had fought each other. This time there was nothing on the line too. This time they could actually let loose and have fun without having to worry about someone getting punished. No preconceived ties...it was to the end this time and there was nothing that was going to stand in his way from defeating his companion.

"You're going down brother." Kai said suddenly, a cocky smile placed perfectly on his features. He sank low in his stance, raising his hands and getting ready to launch. Tala smirked and raised up his own launcher. Fingers slipping into the ripcord, the two stared each other down. Michaels smirked slightly.

"You ready Harrison?"

"Yep, give the cue." The man replied simply.

"Hit it kiddos!" Michaels shouted over, they both didn't move though, glancing back at him with snide looks they rolled their eyes and gave the appropriate starting words in synchronized unison. Then they shot out their blades and the game began.

Instantly moniters were screaming and results came pouring in. The two boys slammed up against each others, their blades cutting and slicing and ripping to shreds. Tala's skipped back, circled around and then collided with Dranzer as hard as it could.

The blue blade went flying, knocking onto the wall of the dish and just managing to catch itself from going out. It zigzagged down the dish, slicing and spinning with a fury rarely scene. Sensors went screaming in protest as the blade tilted downwards, caught it's own edge and was sent flying over Wolborg. It landed gracefully and skidded into the silver blade that angrily was knocked to the side.

The two went head to head, taking blows, giving blows, they were evenly matched and it was downright scary to see the two of them fight at their full strength. The computers that were monitering them couldn't seem to keep up with them, it kept dribbling back on themselves.

An audience was forming, everyone stopping to watch in fascination as the blades went at it- ducking, spinning, running, attacking, sliding, dipping, clipping. The two were showing no signs of stopping or slowing down. When one attacked, the other went into defence, and it was a perfect balance of opponents.

It was Kai who cracked first. His eyes narrowed heavily when Wolborg once more slammed into Dranzer hard enough to nearly send her flying from the dish. He raised his hand and then let out a fierce battle cry and with it came the Phoenix song. The great fire bird appeared out of nowhere, flames surrounding it and the silver blade that fought against it.

Tala didn't look to concerned though, he too shouted with equal intensity and the great wolf appeared ready for her battle. It stood tall and proud and it howled loudly at the moon it couldn't see. The two bitbeasts shot towards each other, their hosts commanding them with the will in their hearts.

Dranzer gripped Wolborg with its talons and it tried to rip the wolf in two, but it never made it that far. Jaws of steel locked onto its body and the bird let out a pain filled cry as the two tumbled and rolled, holding on to each other as they cut and spilt mystic blood all around.

The blades were grinding into each other, and they were sparking the intensity was so great. Michaels' eyes were glued to the fight, completely forgetting the computers that were screaming their annoyance at the world. Harrison though was furiously typing as he tried to keep up with the constant fluctuations and changes that were occurring before them.

The data was cascading off the charts and the information was getting rerecorded over top of printed sheets. There was nothing he could do to keep it from overlapping each other, everything was coming in at such a blindingly fast rate that he didn't have time to go back and fix anything.

The infamous Korg and Anna appeared after fifteen minutes of the battle, watching with avid interest as the two brothers went in for the kill. Sweat was pouring down their faces as they went for the final strike time and time again. Every time they were ready to finish the battle though, the other would have a perfect comeback. They never once gave their opponent the chance to change their strategy or move. Everything was down to instinct and pure talent.

Spencer and Bryan were taking bets on who would be the victor, and Ian was cheering on the pair, but neither of the two opponents seemed to be paying any attention to the world around them. Their eyes were locked on the dish and what was happening there. Wolborg had broken free of Dranzer's talons, and the bird had escaped the wolf's jaws. The two were circling each other, both trying to find a weak spot.

Generally speaking, Kai had the weaker blade. It was one of the reasons that he didn't attack with the flames that Dranzer prided herself in. If he did, that would be the perfect opportunity for Tala to unleash his icy storm. At the moment, the two had an unsaid pact of not resorting to those moves. It would be a cheap way to end a fight that had been brewing for a long time coming.

The two blades swam about the dish, slipping past each other in an almost obscure game of tag. They would slash through the dish and they would cut across it but they would never strike unless there could be true damage given.

Both blades were suffering damages, but they kept on with the fight, ignorant of everything. Dranzer dove down, slamming into Wolbort. The silver blade teetered on the edge of the dish, one milimeter more and it would be considered out. It slid forwards though, back into play, and everyone watched with baited breath as the fight went on.

There was a loud crashing sound, a few curses and then suddenly the two blades collided with a bright light. Everyone shielded their eyes as the light filled the entire room. Only two people were still staring even as the light blinded everything about them. When the others looked up, the screeching of the computers had stopped, and with it – the blades.

Both blades were laying on the ground, motionless. Kai was breathing heavily, struggling to keep himself energized long enough to figure out just what had happened. Tala too was gasping for breath, his entire body wracked with small sweaty shakes of wonder. He looked up at his companion who grinned at him.

"So...it's a draw?" Michaels whispered in confusion. Both boys turned to him and shook their heads.

"Mine went down first." Tala admitted stoically. His hand reaching down to pick up his motionless blade. It glowed slightly in his palm and he clenched his fingers around it a little tighter as he smiled down at it.

"Only by a second though, Dranzer stopped not to long afterwards." Kai admitted as he too scooped up his blade.

"A second is all that's needed though Kai." Tala reminded him softly as he slipped the blade into his pocket. He grinned over to Harrison who was staring at his computer like it had just done something extraordinary. "How'd that data come out Kyle?" He asked thoughtfully. The man looked at him as though he had three heads.

"Your results are so cool. I think I'm in love." The look on Tala's face at hearing that was priceless. His mouth opened wide and he blinked towards the man in confusion. He looked towards Kai who was struggling to keep himself from laughing, and at the laughing look on everyone else's face Tala felt his face burn with embarrassment.

"Quit scaring the kids you moron." Michaels knocked the self declared 'Brain-guy' upside the head.

"I can't help it, these numbers are making me cu-" Whatever the numbers were doing to the man was drowned out by a pained yelp that he produced when he was boxed in the ear once for good measure.

Anna giggled and ran over to her friends excitedly. She blinked unabashedly up at the two, Kai steadfastly ignoring her presence completely, and Tala still blushing from the strange comments from earlier.

"You two are great! How do you do that?" She asked as she looked at them in wonder. Tala shrugged, not really used to all the positive attention that was suddenly going his way.

"Do what?" Tala asked as she stood before him expectantly.

"Beyblade liked that. Are all matches that intense?" His blue eyes swiveled towards Kai who was pulling the various wires and connections off his head and chest.

"No, that's the height of it probably." Kai muttered slowly. "God damn I've gotten rusty." He cursed softly under his breath. Tala beamed at him.

"You still beat me, you ass."

"Barely." Tala scoffed. Shaking his head with clear annoyance across his features.

"You haven't played in what? A year? _Maybe_? And you're complaining about beating me because it was just by a hair? You jerk, we've been going head to head ever since we were first started, you should be happy you still have what it takes. If anything, _I've _gotten rusty."

"Can you teach me?" Anna asked suddenly, her eyes travelling to the stadium before them. Both boys suddenly went rigid, from behind them the other three members of their team were deathly quiet and were looking anywhere except for where Anna was staring up at them with such hope in her eyes.

"Sorry Anya, you're too much of a Dama to learn to play like we play." Tala teased lightly, his face set and determined as always. She frowned heavily at him.

"Dama? Anya?"

"Lady." Kai translated instinctively. "Lady Anna – Dama Anya...."

"I am not a lady!" She growled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No means no Anna. We're not going to teach you." The brothers hissed at once, both of them meeting each others eyes in a stony and steadfast determination. To them, Beyblading was anything but fun. It was a job and something that they did to save the world, but it was not fun. It wasn't something that was to be admired. It wasn't something to laugh or take enjoyment out of. Beyblading was something that they did for survival and that was that. They would not teach her something like this.

It was at that moment that Korg called the girl over, his hand beckoning her like a lantern in the dark. She didn't even say a farewell, she just glanced back at them once before scurrying over to where he was starting to point things out on the mechanics of the machines that were busy trying to process all the information that was just recorded.

Michaels looked up at them for a moment and sighed heavily before nodding towards the clock on the wall. In moments, Tala and the others were to leave. They needed to go back to the Abbey and once there their training and undercover operations were to begin again. Sighing heavily, Luka glanced back at his brother. He hugged the slate haired boy for a brief moment before starting to walk back towards where Bryan, Ian, and Spencer were all waiting for him.

Kai looked over to them sadly and then he turned on his heel, and started to walk away. Once more they were heading back to their various stations, thoughts of the impending missions coming from headquarters filtered through his head, and he shivered as he wondered just what they could be.


	13. Count to Ten

**Windstar: **This is the longest chapter out of all of them so far. This is something that took a while to write, and I'm anxious about it because I'm not entirely to sold on one of the reactions that take place later on in the story. I'm going to tell you now, that it will be explained SOMEWHAT later...but it will not be going into full detail. I think there have been enough subtle hints and things of that nature to express what I'm trying to say. This story is still rated T despite it slipping into M-ish type scenarios every once and a while. It will not get more graphic then this.

If you're annoyed by the fact that I got the two of them together, note that they've been together through the whole fic - including the present chapters. So you're going to have to deal with it. ^^;;

I hope you're all doing well, and THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the people who reviewed. You all made my week. This one's for you! Enjoy!

**Chapter Twelve:**

The date on the next screen surprised everyone. It was two years into the future. Only four years ago. It was a hospital strangely enough, and for a while, it didn't appear like this tape belonged in the collection of videos at all. Kai wasn't there. Tala wasn't there. Heck, even Anna wasn't there. There was nothing except the usual hustle and bustle of the hospital crowd and that was that.

The nurses in their scrubs were talking to people in the waiting room and running around the halls. Various faceless people were talking to those besides them, but not once was there any sight of someone that the others would know. The date stared at all of the watchers ominously. December 24th - Christmas Eve.

There was a brightly decorated tree that stood in the corner. Pictures of patients and get well cards hung from the green limbs with care, and tinsel was dribbling onto the floor from where one child had tugged on it especially hard.

After that there was music playing and it was in distinct English. Confused by the sudden change, the watchers looked closer. The people in the tape were not Russian. In fact, they weren't anything at all what they'd been expecting. They stared at each other with arched eyebrows and clear confusion. No one had any idea what was going on.

"Should we rewind it? Did we miss something?" Kevin asked as his hand itched towards the remote. Emily knocked his hand back though with a pointed look in his direction.

"We didn't miss anything, it's a continuous tape you moron." He glowered at her, but she wasn't paying any attention. She was busy trying to inspect every part of the film before them. She wanted to know, just like everyone else did, what was different. Why was this important for them to see?

Tyson stood up and got himself a drink of soda. He brought back a couple of cans for his team mates to share, and with them he brought a back of chips. Mariah glared at him, disgusted that he was treating this like a movie theatre. They were watching one of the saddest renditions of childrens' lives she'd ever seen and there he was stuffing his face. She grimaced at the loud noise of his teeth grinding down the potato peels.

The Christmas music that was playing was eerily disconcerting. It was making everything feel surreal. Questions about the boys started to titilate through their minds. Did Ian ever celebrate a Christmas? Did Bryan ever get a Christmas present? Did Spencer ever get the day off?

Tala's wolf pendent that he left behind at the Mansion was the last Christmas they'd ever seen, and they wondered slightly if this would have a happy memory associated to it. They doubted it though. There was to much blood and gore in this story for there to be any happiness. Especially in a hospital. The only thing that was making this story even worth continuing, was the fact that they knew that in the end the boys were still alive. They had made it through it all. They had made it through everything.

Michaels didn't though. That thought set them all on edge. Someone had killed Michaels the night that the children had won their freedom, Tala had been sent to a hospital in Moskva and Michaels had been killed. Their hearts pounded at that information. That meant that there was still a danger. Still a threat out there that could harm the boys and harm the people they cared about.

Anna's tear stained face was plastered in their minds. She had been crying so painfully and brokenly. She'd been in a state of shock when she'd walked through those doors. In her hand was Wolborg. It had been glowing. It was almost as if it had been leading her to the hospital where her loved ones were waiting.

Kai had simply held open his arms and stopped her from chasing after the gurney that had carried her dearest one away. _That _was still a story that was not yet explained. It never was, and it probably would be. Et they wondered about it een now. Anna and Tala were obviously going to get together somewhere along he way. The end result was obvious at least. Yet how they'd ended up that way was a mystery.

Kai seemed like the more realistic choice. She saw him every day it seemed like. She lived with him, she worked with him. They did everything together. Kai depended on her when he had lost his memories, and he'd needed her to help keep him focused during that rough patch of time.

They were very close. Yet somehow Tala had been the one that she had ended up with. Somehow she'd gone to someone that she only saw twice a month, and only spoke a few sentences to that person during that time. They maybe spent an hour in each others general facility, and yet in the end they'd been close enough for Kai to pretend they were engaged in order to sneak her into his hospital room.

When they'd confronted the Demolition Boys, Anna had been standing before the redhead, almost as if she was going to fight them if they had even dared to go anywhere near him. She'd been the one to stay at his side, hold his hand and help him to stand. He trusted her implicitly, it was so much more then what they'd seen so far, and yet somehow they had doubts that the true intimacy between the two would ever be fully explored. Anna didn't seem like the type of person to share information that didn't partain to her goal.

She wanted one thing out of all of this. She wanted the Bladers of the world to leave her friends alone and to let them live out their lives in peace. She wanted the Blade Breakers to realize that it was nothing personal and that Kai truly wanted to be their frienda nd ally. She wanted them to see the Demolition Boys as good people and not as evil soldiers that only wanted to warp reality and bend truths so that they got away with murder and whatever other crimes they were supposed to be accused of. That was Anna's goal. Nothing about her personal life was to be explained any farther then it had to be, and that was that.

Jingle bells started to play on the tape, and still there was no sign of something strange going on in the scene. Then suddenly the peaceful zone changed sharply. The front doors to the hospital were thrown open and in walked an image straight from a horror film. Shivering like a leaf, covered in snow, and drenched with blood was Kai.

He was hugging a figure to his side, a slightly taller and more gangly figure that's head was tucked down and features obscured. Brown hair was flowing from its scalp and ripped clothing hid its body. Blood was dripping onto the floor from hidden wounds. Kai looked so pale and stunned that it was hard to recognize him for a moment.

Silence ensued in the waiting room, the two standing there in a state of perplexed shock, before finally Kai managed to speak. His lips quivered as he spoke, his red eyes rolling to the back of his head once he'd finished. "H-Help!" He gasped out as he fell face first to the ground.

Like always, his English was perfect. The one plea could have been spoke in Russian for all anyone cared, because the moment he hit the ground, dragging the limp body with him, there were doctors and nurses rushing to his side. People were screaming as they stared at him. He was rolled onto his back, the person next to him taken from his grip.

Kai was carefully picked up and placed on a gurney, taken to the emergency room as quickly as possible. The one he'd been holding was none other then Anna herself. Her face deathly pale, a long slash trailing from her forehead to her cheek bone. She was blinking at the world around her blearily, as though trying to keep a hold on her senses.

She was struggling to remain conscious the noise of the room slamming into her head and make her strain. She was mumbling something, something that they couldn't quite hear. Subtitles provided the answer though. The answer that was both eerie and not unexpected at the same time.

"Stop...Kai...Where's-" What was surprising was the perfectly sound Russian that was coming from her lips. The words were in such perfect Russian that it was obvious her fluency had happened over her years spent in the ice country. They were speaking to her in English though, and after a moment she switched back into her native tongue. "Kai-"

"Is that the boy?" Someone was asking her. She nodded blearily, they were picking her up, placing her down on a rolling bed. She fought them, showing more strength then the watchers thought she even had the ability to do. "Do either of you have any allergies?"

"No-yes, Kai – penicillin." She hissed slightly as she started to be taken away. "Where is he?"

"We're taking him into the ER, what's your name?" She was panicking now, her eyes sliding around her. She was hyperventilating, one hand reached up to shove the doctors away from her, but they started to force it down. She yelped. They let go – her arm was already broken it seemed.

"Anna...Jones..." And then her eyes slipped closed.

When the screen came back, because it faded predictably, it wasn't a security tape that met them. Quite different actually, was a new reel. The reporter was blonde, her face plain and decked with to much make-up. There was a bored expression behind those eyes of blue, and it was a strange transition from the blood stained bodies of friends to the classy reporter that was trying to hard.

"_In later news, the warehouse on fifth and main was strangely caught on fire early this evening. Police say that at least fifteen people were killed in the blaze, all of them trapped inside after the building started to collapse. The Unions are now fighting to improve on public buildings for safety."_

Tala's loud and pissed off voice was the next thing that they heard. The abrupt change making the teens jump as they stared at the irate twelve year old. He was glowering hatefully at his adopted grandfather who was sitting rather awkwardly besides a grim faced Michaels and another man who looked rather smug with the whole situation.

"What the _fuck _do you mean, Kai _and _Anna are in the hospital?" Blue eyes flashing with a fury rarely seen on his usually passive face, Tala was backed soon enough by the growling of Bryan who had moved as though to strike the smug man who was glancing at his fingernails mockingly.

"They were on a mission, and they didn't follow protocol. It's not _my _fault they didn't follow protocol." He said simply enough. Surprisingly it was Michaels who looked murderous that time. He stepped in front of Tala and Bryan who both were about ready to start mauling the man to pieces, and he glowered at him.

"Do not for a moment think that you can come in here and start treating my men like toddlers. They're Special Agents and you will treat them as such Boone." Michaels hissed angrily. The man rolled his eyes.

"And you are nothing but this Branch's _temporary _Head. I on the other hand am the permanent head of the United States' Branch-"

"Which brings me to another question, why the fuck did you send Kai _and _Anna on a mission if you've got a full department full of people to choose from in the US?" Tala hissed as the man continued to examine his nails. Clearly they were more important then the people in front of him.

Michaels looked particularly angry. It could have been for two reasons. The first, he was actually generally worried for Kai and Anna. The two of them had become constants at the ISA headquarters in Moskva and it was obvious that they had become close over the past two years. They had after all been working together relentlessly for days.

Schedules of six to nine days of nothing but working in the labs and on the various machines and programs enabled the two to excel relatively quickly through all the training programs. Fifteen hour days seven days a week meant only one thing. They were able to fit all their various training and exercises in a two year period. Anna's work with the computer wiz Korg, had clearly yielded her ability to work on a mission. It was the only explanation for what had occurred with Boone. She had been Kai's operator, just as she'd been foretold to be, and just like she still was now.

Kai must have been running research or intel and had been trying to do something or other that had yet to be explained for Boone. Obviously something went wrong. The real problem was Anna. No one could understand how she ended up getting hurt. As an Operator, that meant she would be somewhere safe and sound sending information and running code for him to complete whatever it was he was supposed to complete. Yet she had been just as injured as he had been.

Her face had been pale white with shock. She'd been shivering and her arm had been broken, and she'd been bleeding onto the floor. She looked as though she didn't know what was going on around her and it appeared as if she was honestly very frightened and confused. She didn't understand what was happening, a concussion perhaps?

None of that made sense if she was away from all the danger. Again though, Boone had said something about protocol before Michaels had jumped in to his team's defense. Something had gone wrong, that much was obvious, as to what, no one was really sure.

"_Anna's _Uncle was the one they were running intel one, I thought that it would be useful if she could provide information on the man." Boone replied flippantly. At that, Michaels had to wrench Tala backwards because _he _wanted to get the strike in. His fist connected with such blinding speed that the other fell off his chair before he even knew he'd been hit.

He looked up at the Moskva director with such a look of shock on his face that Michaels actually grinned in satisfaction. Tala and Bryan were staring at the man with twin looks of awe. In the background Ian and Spencer were visible staring at the man with equal shock on their features. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Michaels had just acted so far out of the realm of belief that they were completely dumbfounded by the sight of him smirking at the man who'd so severely pissed him off.

He was standing with such a fierce look on his face that the boys were actually stunned into silence. They didn't want to admit it, but even the watchers felt a bit of awe as they looked at the man. This was the same man who had snidely commented that Kai was an insufferable brat who was essentially useless to them all and was a waste of space on their teem. This was the same man who had sent Tala into countless horrors. The same man who had organized everyone as the under cover operatives whose very lives were at risk each day because they were working for him. This man had never shown the slightest image of looking like he ever was going to do anything that would jeopardize his business and his dealings. He was straight forward and to the point, and he claimed instant dislike by everyone around him, and yet there he was – punching out directors of whole branches because he had said something that wasn't even all that bad.

"Assaulting a superior officer is a _hefty _crime." Boone hissed through clenched teeth. If everyone had hated Michaels in the past, they were banded together with the man against Boone. He seemed to just have the aura of arogance and ass holishness that was only found once in a blue moon, and when it was found, everyone wanted nothing more then to squish it like the bug it was.

"Purposefully endangering the lives of minors not under your supervision is also a hefty crime _Boone._ Those two are mine. They're my responsibility and they're mine to command as I see fit. You complained to management saying that they shouldn't be allowed on the payroll because they have nothing to do with the Balkov case, and so I put them on missions. You complained that my missions were out of the 'Special Agents' class ranking, and so I put them on harder missions. Now you complained that I wasn't putting them to good use, and you had a better mission in mind, and where does that end up? With you pitting one of _ my _ agents against her family as well as sending them both to the hospital in a foreign country. Then you try to levi charges against them saying that they disobeyed a direct order and on top of that you want to charge me with assaulting an officer? Well, I don't know where you come off, but around here I call the shots when it comes to my men. Those two are under my command and you will have no further communication at all with anyone of my team members. _Ever_."

Tala was grinning despite the situation, clearly pleased that their ISA director was showing some obvious attention to their team. Over the years one thing that had started to occur, was regardless of the many confrontations with the high-strung man, he had sincerely taken a good look at them. Whenever one of them were hurt, he had the best physicians taking care of them. Whenever one of them needed help, he was there to do so. He may not have been a cuddly teddy-bear, and occasionally he would do the exact same thing that they all were dealing with at the Abbey, but he was a true blue man who would stick up for them and defend them to the death. He was their director and their leader, and he would do anything if it meant their safety.

Even if they didn't particularly like them.

Boone was glowering hatefully at the group. Bryan and Tala were standing just behind Michaels, just behind them was Spencer and Ian. The fivesome was more then just a little threatening, and the man hissed at them with a renewed amount of anger.

"Fine then. Good day _Tristen._" Using Michaels' frist name, Boone stormed out of the room, and the commander sighed heavily. He turned around, glancing at the awestruck looks on his subordinates' faces.

"What?" He snapped as he looked at the four children that had never really had childhoods. They were looking at him with a mix of awe and surprise, but after a moment their shock dissapeared into smiles.

"Nothing." Spencer conceded as he knocked Ian in the head when it looked like the smaller boy was about to say something far to excitable.

The screen faded and when it came back, the watchers were greeted with the sight of Tala walking solitary down the halls of the hospital that had become familiar due to the English music that was playing. He was wearing clothes that were different from that which he wore at the Abbey. His uniform had been laid to rest and now simple sneakers and jeans with a white turtleneck made up his attire.

His shoulder length red hair was tucked behind his ears, and around his neck was the wolf pendant that was always with him whenever he had leave from the Abbey. He looked much like a regular kid, classy even. The white turtleneck gripped his body favorably, hugging his porcelain skin as though to caress it as it stretched with each movement. There was a dark blue backpack on the boy's shoulders, making the look of a normal school child all the more obvious.

He slowly yet surely pushed open the door that led to Kai. The slate haired boy was laying on his bed, bandages covering his arms and legs, his chest was wrapped with guaze, and his fingertips were scorched a little.

Still, at Tala's arrival, red eyes danced over to where the boy was standing and they fell on the older child's face. Tala didn't look happy, but he didn't look sad either. Not even displeased. He carried that trademark impassiveness that followed him wherever he went.

He took a few steps forward, his hand reaching out to take his brother's. Kai let him do it, there was no reason to not do so. Tala sighed and tucked his head down, letting his forehead rest on his brother's for a brief moment before backing up and sitting down on the edge of the bed. They still held hands though, a sign of their constant bond that was flowing through their veins.

"Morphine working?" Tala asked stoically. Ignoring all pretenses and worries. That wasn't his concern.

"Yeah." Kai said with a simple shrug, he'd noticed the question's wording. It wasn't _How are you feeling_, or _are you okay_? No, he already knew the answers to those. Kai looked like crap, he probably felt like crap. God thank whoever invented morphine.

"Good." Tala nodded simply, looking about the room. His free hand started to thumb the pendant about his neck, tracing it with his fingers absentmindedly.

"How'd you get here?" Kai sat up, ignoring the disproving look on his brother's face.

"I flew here on a reindeer." Kai snorted, shaking his head slightly.

"Long flight?"

"Of course not, reindeer are magic. We even stopped by the North Pole. Santa wants me to tell you that you've been a _very _bad boy." Pale fingers reached into the backpack and pulled out a black object with a tag around it. "He said, 'no presents for that boy, only this.'" The now obvious object – coal – fell into Kai's hand and the preteen glowered at his brother with annoyance.

"Anything else that reindeer wanted to say?" Tala's face looked scandalized.

"Kai, did you hit your head that hard? The reindeer, it was Blitzen by the way, said nothing. _Santa _is the one who told me to deliver you with some coal."

"Alright, anything else?" The redhead snickered slightly.

"Yeah, Boone got kicked off your case. Michaels is refusing to send either you or Anna anywhere unless it's for Operation Freedom."

"Who knew Michaels actually had a pair." Kai snorted and leaned back on his pillows, tossing his lump of coal in the air slightly. "When do I get out? I hate this country."

"What? New York's not enough of an entertainment for you? Didn't enjoy the shows or the streets? Did you get to go to Serendipity's? Have that Frozen Hot Chocolate?"

"No, somehow getting involved in a mob war and starting an inferno and killing seven people never seemed like fun to me." Tala's face sobered instantly. His eyes flashing darkly.

"Which is another thing I wanted to talk to you about. What happened Kai?"

"Are you asking me as my brother, Luka, or are you asking me as Special Agent Ivanov of the ISA?"

"Your brother. You're not under report. Michaels is going to deal with the report when we get back. Voltaire bought me these tickets to fly over and get you two home though."

"Ah. Well in that case, everything went to hell in a hand basket. The original mission was intel related only. We were supposed to just fly in, observe the scene and then report back to local authorities. Anna was even trying out her deep throat voice for the calls to the police. Trust me when I say that girl couldn't pull it off even if she tried. She giggles to much. Anyway," Kai shifted slightly, getting comfortable. "I was out running wires and lines, trying to get a drop on the mob leader we were after, Antonio Ottilia. Somehow or other though they got the drop on us. Anna was running the security feed, stationing herself in the hotel we were at, she'd hacked into the security cameras and was telling me where people were and was shutting down anything that would get in my way. One of Ottilia's men tracked her hacks _somehow _back into the room. Anna swore she didn't do anything that could be traced and that she had set up boundaries to keep it from happening, but that guy knew where she was.

"He walked in and tried to grab her. Obviously the little hellcat fought back, she even shot a few rounds at him trying to get away, but she never could fight worth a damn. By the time I got there she was gone and the set up was trashed. I went over to the computer and tried to see if there was any way I could track them, and it was rigged with a bomb.

"Getting blown up feels like shit by the way."

"You think?" Tala grinned at his brother who scowled at him, but instantly the smile faded and he motioned for the younger boy to continue.

"I got out half way decently, and spent the next eight hours trying to figure out where the hell she'd been taken too. Eventually I got Korg on the line and he patched me through some interface or other, and from there I managed to get into the security feed for the room we were staying in. Anna had set it up in case of an emergency, but it was linked to her laptop. After it blew...anyway...Boone called in and said that I wasn't allowed to go after her and that her mission status has been reduced to MIA. I was to return to base immediately and then leave for Russia. I didn't exactly cooperate.

"A couple hours later I found the warehouse that I had tracked them down to, and torched it. Dranzer and I got Anna out in all the confusion-"

"Right, and getting shot in the chest and beaten half to death was just apart of that confusion huh?" Kai grimaced.

"The original plan was to do that at least...They were going to kill her, and I needed to get her out. I just walked in and let them take me hostage for a little while. I may have gotten beat on a bit, but it gave Dranzer time to start lighting fires. Anna was the one who jumped the car and drove us to the hospital though...Between the two of us we could barely stand when we got to the front door."

Tala raised his hand and placed it on his face, breathing out a long sigh. He was exhausted and it sounded like his brother hadn't exactly been as glorious of a hero as he'd tried to be. The boy took a deep breath and shook his hair, reaching back to tie it into a sloppy ponytail.

"You ever going to cut that?"

"You ever going to cut yours?" Kai's hair wasn't looking much better. His bangs were falling into his face and his dark edges were dangerously close to getting past his ears.

"At least I don't look like a mop."

"At least I don't look like I've had a run in with a weed whacker. How's Anna doing?"

"She's pretty banged up. She got beat on a bit, and apparently she was shot a few times, but she's patching up nicely. She did make a few comments about this being why she wanted to work in a desk and not do missions, but I don't think anyone's really taking her very seriously. Last I heard she was sleeping and doing fine. She's in the next room over if you want to see her." Tala nodded faintly, not really caring much about the information he'd just received.

"Merry Christmas Kai." Tala murmured softly after a while of silence. Kai looked at his older brother with a sad smile, nodding fractionally.

"I'm glad Boris let you out again this year..."

"Bryan and the others are at the mansion waiting for you and Anna to come back so we can celebrate Christmas the way that we're supposed to."

"Go say hello to Anna, she won't mind if you wake her up." Kai mumbled as he turned over and ducked into his blankets.

"You abandoning me to your neurotic _sister_?"

"She's neither my sister nor neurotic, you know better then that. That girl will never be anything I would consider family." A harsh slap echoed through the room, and Kai stared up at his older brother with shock on his features.

"You shouldn't speak so little rabbits can hear you." Kai frowned, but his eyes slid to the door. Dark brown hair was dissapearing down the corridor and he hissed slightly, struggling to sit up. He hadn't even known someone was there. A true testament to just how tired and just how weak he'd been feeling after everything. "I'll get her...and you should learn to stop thinking so negatively about her. She's been a greater help to you then you seem to realize."

Tala stood and started towards the door, his steps slow and lengthy. He left his backpack on the bed, he was returning after all. His younger brother groaned slightly, gripping the coal in his hand as his brother pushed the door back far enough to allow him entry.

"Luka." The redhead stopped, glancing back at his brother. Kai didn't continue, but he stared at the other with dark eyes full of sorrow. He was upset. He hadn't meant for the girl to hear it. It was probably Tala's fault. He'd dared to insinuate that that girl was a sister to him, something that he didn't believe in and he never could find acceptable.

To him, Anna was neither a sister nor necessarily just a friend. She wasn't a lover either. Anna was just that person. That dear person that was in his life that he wanted to protect above all others. Anna was an asset to his team, and the friend he'd needed when he was lost in a world without memory.

She was so special to him, and yet she was not like his brothers. His adopted brother, Luka, and the brothers of his heart – the other three Demolition Boys. They were so strong and powerful and they all had such glorious positions in his memory that comparing Anna to them was like comparing apples and oranges.

She was not like them, she couldn't possibly maintain the same position in his heart, and he wouldn't let her into that world. His family was something dear and special to him, and she was not apart of his family. Perhaps she was the closest friend he had outside of his family, but she was not allowed to break the boundaries and step into that world that was his kin. That was apart from everyone. No one would be allowed to touch that place.

"I know." Tala just grinned. "You're such an insufferable ass sometimes Sacha." The redhead fled before Kai managed to even glower after him. He hated being called by his real name, but of everyone, only Tala would be able to do so effectively. He couldn't deny Tala that. He wouldn't do it.

The scene shifted, and Anna obviously wasn't all that hard to find. She was on crutches, staring up at the sky with dark eyes as she frowned to herself. Thoughts were clearly passing through her head, but it was obvious that she knew well enough she couldn't out run the redhead.

"Hey, are you alright?" Tala moved to her side, his hand slipping to the crook of her elbow and she raised an eyebrow at him as he looked like he was about to sweep her off her feet and carry her back to her room at the first sign of trouble.

"I'm good." Her voice spoke in perfect Russian, now no longer gasping for breath and in intense agony, the words were clear and accented appropriately. She seemed like a perfect Russian girl now, despite her American heritage.

"Kai's an ass." Tala said as he leaned against the wall where Anna was standing. His eyes were roamind down her body, checking for her injuries and committing them to memory.

"Boone is more of one." She whispered softly, gently pulling her arm out of his hold.

"True," He ignored the dry humor. "But Kai's more recent. He probably meant what he said, but that's because he's an idiot. He likes his family being trapped in a bloody cycle of death and destruction, you're not apart of that – thus you're not family."

"Tala." He flinched. She never called him that. It was always Luka. "I really don't care."

"You're so full of shit." Her eyes narrowed at him. "You're pissed off because you parents ditched you, your Uncle wanted to kill you, and Kai just said you weren't his family. I know for a fact you care."

"What? You're going to psychoanalyze me?"

"I've known you for a while now, you think I'm just going to sit here and let you sulk in the hospital because my brother's being a jack ass? Come on, lets go back to your room." Tala held out his hand. She didn't even look at it. Instead the teenager stead-fastedly looked in the opposite direction. "Anya..."

"Why is it you always call me that?"

"It's just a nickname. I can call you Anna if you really care that much about it." He was being serious, his eyes showing the sincerity that he felt. She sighed though and waved it off, she didn't really care all that much, and if Tala was insisting on calling her that, then she'd deal with it. "Come on, you're going to fall over if you keep it up."

"I will not." He raised an eyebrow at her. She stubbornly started to hobble down the hallway, her crutches holding her up as she manuvered through the hospital. All it took was a few more steps and suddenly one crutch went sliding across the floor. There without even a blink of an eye, Luka caught her and hoisted her up effortlessly. "Put me down." She commanded, a blush on her cheeks. She was not going to let a twelve year old carry her back to her room. She was two years older then he was!

"Shut up."

"You've gotten a lot meaner over the years. I liked you better when you pretended the world was full of smiles and butterflies." She hissed darkly. He froze. "Of course...you wouldn't know what that's like do you? You've spent your entire life in a place completely void of-" She yelped as she was unceremoniously dropped on her bed. She hadn't even realized they'd gotten there. Her eyes were boring into him, but he was already turning around and walking out. Her heart seemed to freeze as she watched his retreating back. "Tala-"

"Save it. If you want to pick a fight, do it with Kai. Don't pick one with me." He growled softly as he moved out the door and into the hall. She stared after him with wide eyes. That hadn't been the reaction she'd been hoping for, and now she knew for certain that he was pissed off at her, and she hadn't even gotten the rise she'd wanted.

"Luka!" She moved to try to get off the bed, but only succeeding in falling off of it. Her wounds screamed at her, and she yelped in pain. He stopped in the hall, turning back ever so slightly to look at her where she was struggling to control her pained breathing.

"You're such a little fool." He reprimanded her lightly, his head shaking as he moved back into the room and gently lifted her up onto the mattress.

"I'm sorry-"

"I know you are." He pet her head for a moment, smiling childishly at her. "You didn't think I'd come back here if you weren't did you?" He winked at her, but it did nothing to make her feel better. His smile faded and he shook his head slowly. "Listen, Anna, Kai's a bit of a moron, and you may not be considered his family, but you are most certainly our dearest friend."

"Outside of the Abbey."

"Outside of the Abbey." He conceded lightly. "That doesn't mean you're anything less then that though." She nodded, her hand holding her chest as she lay on the mattress. "We all do care for you, you make us realize what we're fighting for."

"And what _are _you fighting for? What's the point? To save the world? The world kind of sucks." He looked at her, eyes wide with surprise. He couldn't really believe what she was saying. Since when did _Anna _sound so morbid and depressed?

"You feeling alright?"

"Fine."

"Anna, look, the world may suck and all, but I have faith that there's some good out there somewhere. I'm not just going to stand here and watch as thousands and millions of people are killed by Boris just so he can become the ruler of it. He can't even rule the Abbey peacefully and now he wants to take over the world? I'll be dammed if I see you or anyone else go through the same treatment that Bry and the others all go through each day." Never him. He ignored the fact that he too was constantly at risk.

"And what if there really wasn't anything worth saving?"

"Then we fight because Boris shouldn't get what he wants, and because not fighting never seems right."

"I saw my parents." The change in topics didn't go unnoticed, but it wasn't mentioned and Tala went with it in stride.

"Do you want to go to live with them?" He didn't put any emotion in it. He was completely ambivalant. He wouldn't let his feelings or anyone-elses change her heart's desire. Oddly enough she shook her head.

"I haven't wanted to stay with them since they left me behind. I guess it was just surprising...surprising that I saw them and that they were still alive. That they moved on without me and didn't even seem to care."

"Then Kai turned around and made it seem like he didn't even care." He filled in her blank just like he had earlier. She was just more accepting of his intervention now. She nodded slowly. "Well, one thing that Kai has going for him is that he truly does love you and he does think of you as his family even if he wont call you that. He keeps out outside his family because his family is dark and depressing and usually-" he punched her shoulder lightly "You're not."

"And you?" She asked softly, eyes taking him in slowly. He tilted his head to one side. His trademark for confusion. He didn't understand what she was asking him.

"I what?" He asked her as he blinked at her in confusion. His red hair slipped over his shoulder slightly, creating a veil to the outside world. The only one that could see his face truly was Anna. The camera blocked off all his other features.

"Do you love me?" The boy reeled backwards, blinking at him with a dropped mouth and tense muscles.

"Love you?" He mumbled the words in confusion, he didn't seem to be able to say anything else he was in such a state of shock.

Anna nodded slowly yet surely, before suddenly and quite randomly, leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. The twelve year old was frozen in dumb shock. He didn't appear to know quite what to do.

His body was rigid, his eyes were wide, and his fists were clenched at his side. He was absolutely stock still, as Anna's kiss traced over the skin on his cheek and made him stare at her with unfocused and blank eyes. She pulled back quickly enough, her face dyed with a blush. He was shaking ever so slightly, his eyes not really seeing her as he stared blindly at her face.

As the minutes passed, the blush faded from Anna's face, and soon it was replaced with dumb horror. She reached up, touching his face, but the boy didn't move. He didn't say anything. He didn't even blink. He just stared forward with a stunned look, his lips half parted from the response towards the kiss he hadn't even expected.

"Luka? Luka?" She shook his shoulder, he didn't even move. He didn't do anything. He just was trapped like a blank doll. "Luka! Luka look at me are you okay?" She was getting visibly scared, her hands shaking him, trying hard to get him to look at her. She wasn't successful though, he was just dumb and deaf to the world, his body over come by shock. Her hand slammed onto the help button, and instantly a nurse rushed into the room.

"Something's wrong! He's, he's-"

The nurse gently moved her frantic hands away, taking Tala's face in her hands and tilting it back slightly as she looked into his eyes. She called for a cart of some sort. She was talking medicine, trying to bring the boy back into awareness, but he was just sitting there with his eyes wide and his face paling. _God _was he even breathing? His lips were starting to tinge blue.

Anna was screaming, trying to figure out what was going on, the nurses and suddenly doctors were swarming the boy, taking him, laying him down, trying to get him to breathe to speak, to blink, to do anything. Kai was at the doorway, his red eyes taking in the sight mutely. He was staring at his brother who was unresponsive to everything and anyone.

One doctor took a syringe full of something that they couldn't hope to pronounce, and he flew forward, grasping the man's hand. The doctor stared at him in annoyance.

"Don't do that." Kai murmured softly. One nurse started to breathe into the young boy's mouth, his face still completely neutral. The doctor pulled his arm out of the red eyed boy's grip. "I'm telling you not to give that to him. You aren't going to like it when you do." He was ignored and the needle was moved towards Luka's arm.

As soon as the needle entered his body though, Luka's eyes blinked at him, and rage filtered onto his features. He punched up with lightening fast reflexes and the doctor gasped, his throat crumbling under the strike. A nurse screamed as Luka thrashed in their hold, trying to get them away from him.

Kai stood by, watching without feeling much remorse on the topic. They were the ones who thought it would be a good idea to ignore him when he warned them not to put that needle on his brother's skin. It wasn't his fault that Luka was going absolutely crazy. Anna was staring at the boy in shock, having never seen him react so violently and aggressively before.

He was shoved out of the way from behind and someone was trying to grab Luka's arm as it flew back to strike someone across the chest. His wrist was gripped painfully, and he struggled to get out of the hold, regardless of his enhanced strength and ability, no twelve year old had a chance in hell of being stronger then a full grown man with the intent of pinning him down.

Luka gasped out, his breath leaving his chest in pain. He looked around the room, trying to find something to help him with. He didn't look like he knew what was happening, and he was fighting on instinct alone. He screamed in fear, especially when his other hand was grabbed and thrust behind his back to join the other one.

He was flipped over, face down on the ground. Someone was screaming for a benzodiazepine and he kicked out, catching someone in the shin. Kai growled as he saw someone trying to tie his hands back, something that _no one _did to his brother who was so scared already.

"Get off of him." He hissed as he moved forward, shoving the person who dared to attempt to bind Luka's wrists.

"Sacha, Sacha-" Kai ignored his name, if anything it only made him more irritated then before. He roughly pulled his shivering brother to his chest and wrenched him out of the crowd of nurses and doctors. One was being particularly difficult though and even as Tala's arms wrapped around his brother in an instinctual reaction to all the fear that was encompassing him.

"Calm down Luka." Kai whispered softly in his hair as he glared at the doctor who was getting closer. "They'll go away if you calm down." He seemed to be ignoring the fact that tears were staining his hospital gown, and he was particular ignorant of just how his words seemed to make his brother shake just a little bit harder.

"I'm just going to give him something to calm him down a bit-"

"You put that in his body and I'll kill you myself. Now back off. He's just upset, and I can deal with him. Get the fuck out of here." Kai's voice hissed at the doctor who dared to brandish the sedative towards the redhead.

"Just who is that child?!" Someone screamed, trying to put everything together.

"He's my little brother, now shut up and get out of here. I got this, you're all just making it worse! He hates doctors and people like you, so just leave us alone for a minute!" His injuries were cracking, he could feel blood slipping down his cheeks, and his body swayed slightly as he tried to keep himself upright.

"Kai-" Anna moved to try to get out of the bed, but one of the doctors held her in place.

"Not you too young lady, you need to rest! Now, what exactly is wrong with him?" Kai shrugged slightly, looking at his brother who was all but hyperventilating into his chest.

"I kissed him." Anna mumbled softly, embarrassed. Kai snorted.

"That must have been one hell of a kiss." She blushed deeply.

"It was just a peck." She looked away, feeling foolish and embarrassed and rather idiotic at the moment. "On the _cheek._"

"I'm sure. What, he just blank out at you after that?" She nodded and he sighed. "He most likely just got a bit stressed. He'll be fine." It was a lie and they both knew it. If one person could handle stress it was Tala. He'd had years to perfect that skill, both willingly and unwillingly. The redhead was mumbling something in a different language, one that the subtitles gave no hint to and made Kai's face darken as he looked down on the boy in his arms.

He returned in the similar language, and almost instantly, Tala blinked. Clarity filtered onto his features and he shook his head as though to dislodge the fog of his mind. Standing up straighter he frowned at the scene around them. He asked something in that language...it was so strange to hear them speak it, and everyone was staring at them blankly.

"Aren't you all...from Russia?" One of the nurses who apparently had read the two childrens' files asked, trying to figure out just what was going on. The three nodded instantly. Anna surprisingly enough had done so unconsciously. "So...you two are...trilingual?" Tala looked at her blankly.

"No. I'm fluent in at least....eight languages? Kai is...seven?" Back to English once more and Tala was speaking so easily and with no accent at all that all of them started.

"Eight. You thought I was going to let you nail Ethiopian without me?" Tala just rolled his eyes, calling him an idiot in the process.

"But your accents..." The nurse was stunned, they didn't sound like they were from a different country.

"Well, we could talk with accents if we wanted to, but doesn't this make more sense if we don't?" Kai's voice was sarcastic, and thick with that accent that comes with learning a language for a first time. Luka actually started laughing at him, telling him he had purposely stressed a needless pronunciation, at which point Kai boxed his years.

"Sorry to trouble you all." Luka said simply, bowing his head respectively at them.

A few more minutes and they left, and with them, the door was closed tightly. Kai sighed heavily, and he placed his hand on his head.

"Are you okay?" He asked slowly, glancing at his brother. Anna was looking at the red head with such concern, his hand set on her hair and he smiled at her brightly.

"I'm fine, sorry I worried you. He was looking at Anna but he was directing it to both of them.

"What happened?" Anna whispered as she looked at him with concern.

"Bad memory." He relayed lightly. "It made me remember something I'd rather forget. Don't worry. I'm okay."

"When all this shit is over...we need to work on your reaction with doctors. You're dangerously violent when it comes to people with needles." Kai teased lightly.

"As soon as you face your fear of Black Dranzer I'll face my fear of doctors." Kai's eyes glazed over slightly at the sound of the name that was always erased from his memory bit by bit each time it was brought up. Anna frowned at Tala, but didn't say anything, the barb was deserved. Strangely enough though, Kai replied to it far faster then any other reaction he'd had towards the topic.

"I'm not afraid of Black Dranzer." He hissed lowly. His eyes struggling to control emotion as it seemed like his body was swaying slightly. Tala roughly shoved him onto the bed and made him sit down. The three of them sitting there patiently as they talked.

"No? Then why is it you unconsciously force yourself to forget about it every time it's brought up?" Tala was looking at his brother curiously, trying to see how far this conversation would last. It was one that was finally not being interrupted and it was one that he'd been meaning to have with his companion for a long time.

"I don't know...but I'm not afraid."

"You should be." The redhead admitted as he lay down, head snuggling into Anna's abandoned pillow.

"Oh, get comfortable, do." She muttered as her bed was overcome by the twelve year olds.

"How much do you remember?" Tala whispered, his eyes looking over his companion slowly, the younger boy frowning at the windows as though they had the answers.

"Not all that much really...I remember...a voice."

"Well, I was screaming at you half the time. Bry and the others were too."

"No, it wasn't your voice."

"Oh really?" It sounded like a flippant comment, but even Anna could tell there was curiosity hidden in that tone. Luka was actually very interested in all of this. "Whose voice?"

But Kai was quiet. His eyes flicked over towards Anna for a moment, and then back towards his brother. Neither were speaking, they were waiting for him to reply. The voice should have been obvious – Black Dranzer's voice. Just as Wolborg and Dranzer spoke to their masters, so Black Dranzer spoke to Kai. It was as simple as that.

Yet it wasn't simple. Kai wasn't answering, and for a moment the two friends wondered if Luka had finally initiated that reflex action of forgetting and erasing the memory. Perhaps though, the memories weren't erased. Perhaps the great white sheet that covered the mind of Hiwatari Kai wasn't an all encompassing blanket of darkness that left him confused and agitated. Perhaps that white sheet was merely just that. A sheet that was waiting for day time so that the sleeper it held dormant could awake and push it off. Maybe Kai was finally aware enough of everything around him to start peeling off the fabrics of his memory.

"Okaasan." The boy whispered slowly, his eyes slipping closed as he waited on baited breath for his brother to respond. "I heard Okaasan's voice."


	14. Family Matters

**Windstar: **This chapter is called "Family Matters" for the simple fact that this is all about...families, and the like. There's a lot going on in this chapter, and though it is shorter than the last one, it is not lacking in content at all. Lately I've been writing up storm, and have already embarked on writing the "Bryan" focused segmant. It's turning out a bit differently then I first anticipated, but that's alright. As soon as that's finished, I'll be starting on the tournament spree. After that, we'll have a few chapters of wrap up and then that'll be the end of On The Three. I can't wait to be honest, I've got so much planned for the sequel and I'm really stuck in On The Three because I can't do some things that I'd like.

If you haven't seen it yet there is a futuristic AU based on OTT as a prequel of sorts (though it won't make complete sense until the sequel comes out) to the sequel. It's called "Operation Desert Storm" and it's about a plane crash in the Sahara where Tala and Kai just barely make it out alive. It's pretty introspective and psychological, and not that heavy in the angst department, more "hurt and comfort" to be honest. Yet it's fun none the less. Check it out if you're interested.

As for this, I'm foreseeing maybe ten-twelve more chapters and that'll be that. I'm currently writing chapter nineteen right now - that one is a doozy. It's hard to write characters I don't usually think much about, but you guys need to tell me if you think I'm getting to OOC on you.

Also, let me know what you think on their portrayals, if they're not realistic, I'll fix them. I'm always looking for constructive criticism. Thanks very much, and now onto the show!

**Chapter Thirteen:**

Okaason. Mother. That was what Kai had said. He had heard his mother's voice when Black Dranzer was screeching through the halls of the Abbey. Tala had been fighting the great black bird and the dumbfounded look on Kai's innocent face was more obvious then ever now. The boy's daze had a lot less to do with the bird that was destroying everything. It had a lot more to do with the fact that his mother had been speaking to him. Or rather, Black Dranzer had made his mother appear to speak to him.

Tala was eerily quiet after that revelation. His face pale and his lips pressed together. He looked up at the ceiling, as though it had all the answers and it knew what he was supposed to say. Kai looked out the window, not really interested in just what it was that Tala was attempting to formulate into words. It didn't matter to him. He was finally getting everything out in the open. His memory was finally putting itself back together enough for him to talk about it. Three years had passed, and now at long last he was able to talk to someone about what he'd seen and heard on that fiery day.

"She told me that everything was going to be alright...that as long as I did what she said we'd all be free." Tala's fists clenched at his sides. His teeth ground down loud enough to make a popping noise. Kai's voice was so weak and so distant that it was almost terrifying to hear. The boy was actually lost in his mind as he was pulling back dark images of the past. "She told me to just let her do what she needed to and we'd be together...she was going to come back..."

"Okaasan's dead Kai." Their mother had been half japanese, and she'd always seemed to prefer being called by the japanese word. When they'd been old enough to make the difference, they'd used it. That had been that.

Anna was quietly sitting there, taking in the information as if she were a student memorizing notes. Her eyes were locked onto Kai, and her tongue was licking her lips slowly yet surely. She was thinking hard, and clearly she was taking in everything that she saw.

"I know that...but she said she was coming back. That she wasn't dead yet. That we were tricked. That if I did what she wanted...she would come back with me and be there forever."

"Black Dranzer was lying to you. Mother's not coming back." Tala's voice was forceful now. He was cutting down Kai's illusion and he needed to be swift about it. He needed to force his brother into realizing that there was nothing except for the cold hard facts. Their mother wasn't coming back. She wasn't coming back and he needed to forget what Black Dranzer said to him.

"I know that." Kai snapped with angry fury, his eyes glittering with annoyance. He knew very well that their mother was dead. He spent much of his time blaming himself for the death of his parents, and he didn't need to be reminded of the fact that the woman he loved so dearly was no longer apart of his life. Yet Black Dranzer's voice...his mother's voice...that had been the perfect key to Kai's heart. It was the one thing that he wanted more then anything else, and it had been shown to him. He'd been the perfect willing master of the bird. He'd let the bird control his thoughts just enough for him to make the bird destroy the Abbey.

He had listened to it, and he'd done what it wanted. The bird wanted freedom, and it wanted to punish those that created it. So it went through Kai. It mangled his mind and memories until he was the willing servant. He was more then a little agitated about it too.

Black Dranzer had used the one weakness he had at his disposal. His parents death were so fresh in his mind that the bird jumped at the opportunity to control him through their demise. He could hardly consider himself the master of the bird if the bird had in fact been the one who tricked him into commanding it to do his bidding.

But somewhere along the way, Kai had wanted what the bird wanted. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted it all to be gone. He wanted it with every fiber of his being and the bird complied. It burnt the place to the ground. It roared and attacked, swiping at Tala who ironically was the sole defender of the Abbey. The one who stood his ground to protect it.

If Tala hadn't done that that day...would this all be over? Would they have been free. Freedom. That had been what they were running away for. All the Demolition Boys were going to run away from the Abbey and they were going to be free. They were going to steal some money and live out in the country somewhere far away from Boris.

They weren't going to still be there three years from then...they weren't going to be spies for the government. They wanted freedom. Instead they got more chains. Black Dranzer had tied them to the fate of the world. That bird was capable of destroying everything. Tala was probably the only other person that was strong enough to even think about controlling it. He went head to head with the bird and had defeated it. It would consider him to be its master now too.

Yet the masters of that creature were cursed. They were cursed and deadly. They were all slated to a miserable existence of death. They may have been considered masters, but Black Dranzer mentally was able to maket hem do whatever it was that she wanted them to do. She made them see whatever it was that she wanted them to see, and this hypnosis was enough to take Kai and to entangle him in a web of lies and deceit.

"I know that she's dead, but she was there and she was talking to me. Even if it was an illusion, I heard her voice."

"What else did she say?"

"She said that you were not my brother." He replied softly. Tala sat up, staring at him in horror. Kai went on though, finding the words and speaking them while he still had the ability to do so. "She said that you were a traitor all along and that you were nothing to me...that it had been your fault that she had been killed. That you were the reason for everything." Tala's mouth fell open.

Even if it had been Black Dranzer posing as his mother, the fact that the words had been spoken at all were heartbreaking. He understood why though. He had been the oponent. He had been the one that was standing in its way. Kai was already in the trance of the phoenix, that meant that anything the bird said would be translated into an order that would make the boy try to attack and kill him.

"Are you alright?" Kai was looking at Tala's grim face, but the boy wasn't really listening. He was looking through him almost.

"Yeah. It's just Black Dranzer. That's all. Once that thing is out of Boris' control, the better off we'll all be."

The screen faded, and when it came back, Kai and Anna were making their way through the front door of Hiwatari Mansion. Their friends were beckoning them in, Bryan was wearing a Santa hat and was holding a beer in one hand. Anna snatched it out of his hand just as he went to give her a less then sober hug.

"For shame! You're only thirteen!" She hissed as she stalked towards the kitchen. He moaned and tried going after her but both Kai and Tala caught his arms and knocked him upside the head.

"What the hell was that for?" He hissed as he glowered at them. They just went and said their hellos to the other two members of their party, talking with them while Bryan scowled behind them.

Voltaire looked up at them when they walked in, a pleasant look passing over his face. He looked honestly relieved when he saw that his two wards were back safe and sound from their mission (sort of at least) and that they were there with them at long last.

Kai walked over and dipped his head towards the man, before pulling a bottle out of the fridge and popping the top while throwing a twin towards his brother. Tala caught it without even looking up, and Anna glowered at the two of them as they both took a long sip from it.

"The two of you are ridiculous! You're all underage! Where on Earth did you even learn to drink alcohol at the Abbey!?" Tala just gestured towards Bryan who was walking into the room with a scowl on his face.

"He's the cause of all my bad influences." Anna crossed her arms over her chest, giving them all a dirty look.

"You may be saving the world and all, but you're all _babies_." No one really paid her much mind though, and they were soon chit chatting and talking about various things.

Of course, whenever there was a break from the Abbey, the ISA, the BBASS, and basically life in general, the five boys reverted to a very playful demeanor which seemed to be clear in everything that they did and said. The bantering and the jokes were only the start of the night, and by the end of it, Kai was positioned on the couch in the sitting room, orchestrating the whole thing while the others were rough housing around.

It had all started of course, with Ian throwing a sponge at Bryan who was refusing to help with the dishes. All of the mansion's staff had ben let off for the holidays and the group were fending for themselves. Bryan had decided that as the birthday boy (somehow he got it in his head that Christmas had to be his birthday. Nobody asked him, and nobody bothered to argue. It didn't really matter when their birthdays were, but it seemed like Christmas was the only break from the Abbey and life that anyone got, and if there was one thing that he wanted it was a birthday party of his very own. He let it be known that Christmas had to be his birthday and that was that) he didn't need to do chores.

Well, the others were less then thrilled with that idea. They had each been assigned a task and the fact that he was opting out of doing his chores meant they all had to pick up the slack for him. Frustrated, annoyed, and clearly pissed off, Ian had had enough. He was not washing all the plates by himself, and Bryan wasn't going to just get off scotch free with everything. That just wasn't right!

He threw the soaking wet sponge so hard and so fast that it whacked Bryan right upside the head and slithered elegantly down his skin. The boy froze, and all eyes looked up from what they'd been working on to watch as the scene progressed. Anna and Kai had been cleaning the table from their meal, given the easier tasks considering they were both still healing, and they were the closest to Bryan. They also were the willing audience members, there was no way that once everything started getting crazy the two would have enough energy to keep up with the others. Tala leaned on his broom, his eyes shimmering with delight at the sight of the oncoming battle.

As for Spencer. He was the unofficial referee. He sighed and leaned back, his blonde hair hanging in his face as he just shook his head slowly yet surely. He rung out the towel that he'd been using to wipe off the counter top and glanced back at the scene just as the hackles on Bryan's neck seemed to raise.

"Did you just throw that at me?" His voice was deadly calm, his eyes glimmering with annoyance. Ian just shook his head.

"It slipped." He held up his soapy hands as proof of his claim.

"Oh slipped did it? Slipped right through your little fingers did it?" He was stalking forward, and Ian reached for wet towel Spencer had just laid out to dry on the faucet. He spun it around quickly, and threw it right in Bryan's face as he got a little to close for comfort.

It was the wrong thing to do. Bryan grabbed the towel and rat tailed it so fast that Ian yelped as the sting hit his skin. The boy ducked down, rolling to the side just as Kai told them to make sure they didn't break anything or the maids would be pissed.

Tala side stepped the two and made his way towards the tabel where he plopped himself down and leaned back on a chair. Ian was going to lose in a fight with Bryan, that was obvious, but the Bryan had to catch the idiot first.

"You're supposed to be working too Ivanov." Spencer muttered as he motioned towards the broom still in Tala's hand. The boy looked over to him and winked.

"You gonna make me?" It was Kai though that tipped him out of his chair and knocked him to the floor before he could even register the move. He yelped, glancing at him with annoyance and playful indulgence.

"Spencer, do you mind taking the trash outside?" Anna asked coyly as she motioned towards the three boys on the floor. The two who were grappling didn't hear her, but Tala at least had half the mind to look wounded.

Scrambling to get to his feet, and feeling wrongly punished of course, Tala made a bee line towards safety – behind his beloved brother. Kai raised an eyebrow at his brother and snorted as the boy hugged him from behind.

"You gonna feed me to the sharks?" He asked softly, a wry grin on his face.

"Sic 'im boy." Kai replied and there was only a brief moment of hesitation before Spencer grabbed Tala off of him and tossed him over into Bryan and Ian's fray. The two yelped in surprise, looking up in confusion.

Chaos was ensuing, the three on the floor waging war on the three who were standing by the table innocently enough. Tala and Bryan opted to take down Spencer, and they nearly suceeded in cracking the blonde's head open on the edge of the counter as they tackled him into the floor. Ian flew at Anna who subdued him with a look that promised more chores on his part if he even thought about throwing what looke suspiciously like the lasagna they'd eaten for dinner in her direction.

"You throw that and you're cleaning up the whole kitchen by yourself little boy!" The girl growled, not in the least bit amused by the thought of more work. Kai laughed and told her to lighten up a bit, but she wasn't interested in lightening up. She was far more interested in watching the fight that was going on on the floor.

Spencer was the tallest and the broadest of all of the Demolition Boys, and at that time, Bryan and Tala were roughly the same height. They were both over a foot shorter then the lengthy blonde who didn't appear to be any different from his present day self. So once he was back on his feet he grabbed up the two kids and held them at arms length, snickering as they both fought to knock him back down again. All at once though they stopped, Bryan and Tala looking at each other for a brief moment.

"Isn't Ian the one at fault?" Luka asked questioningly, still wondering how he'd been the one to get involved in the fight.

"Him and Kai. Spence's a lackey." Water doused the two boys heavily after that, the blonde clearly not enjoying the term. He was looking at them with all the domineering presence he usually commanded.

"I'm no one's lackey." He said sharply, Seaborg glowing in his hand where he'd used its power.

"Damn Spence, that's cold." Tala glanced backwards at Bryan who grinned as he slipped his hand in his pocket. Anna moved forward, pulling a spoon off the counter and brandishing it like a sword.

"NO POWERS IN THE KITCHEN. TAKE IT OUTSIDE!" She hissed. The combatants saw the reasoning to this and they turned and rushed Spencer, dragging him down the hall and out the door and into the sitting room where they proceeded to turn the entire place into an ice rink. Falborg's winds were aiding Wolborg's snow, filling the room faster and faster as they shot towards the water that was acting as a shield around Spencer.

Kai and Ian moved into the room just in time to be pulled into the icy storm. The two yelped and tried to avoid the ice chunks that were flying everywhere around them. Tala was having a bit to much fun and Bryan was doing nothing to stop him. The two were just instigating the rough housing and it was clear that as a tag team they were going to win.

"Didn't Anna say _outside_." Kai asked as he looked around the room that was slowly yet surely getting more and more ruined with each passing moment. But the three combatants didn't seem to be paying attention. Their blades were out and spinning and they were laughing as they ducked and dodged playful attacks that were throwing them around.

Tala dove over the couch as one burst of water shot out to grab him, his laughter infectious and when Kai caught his brother in his arms and spun him about to get soaked the whole room couldn't help but let out loud guffaws of excitement.

Now though, Kai could barely keep himself upright anymore, and as his four friends rough housed in the center of the room, he sat back with his feet on an upturned table and a drink in his hand – cheering on the chaos. Anna was standing in the doorway impassively, refusing to get involved in the slightest. After a few hours, Voltaire had appeared and took in the whole sight. His face struggling to surpress a grin at the mess they'd all made.

"Now...who's going to clean this place up?" He asked seriously, and the four boys on the floor stared up at him as though he had nine heads. Instantly they turned towards the self proclaimed birthday boy.

"This is all your fault!" They hissed, glaring at him as he fumbled for something to say.

It didn't matter though. Darkness was something that they were used to in their lives. They were not particularly love filled people. They didn't have good things happen to them every day, and yet the little joy that they could find was infectious and welcoming. Even Anna, who was so obviously against cleaning up the messes that they were making wasn't fighting against them to hard.

She knew as much as they did that their lives were shrouded in a dark cloud that wasn't easily penetrated. That was why everything that they did and everything that they lived for needed to be pushed to its extreme. They didn't have time to hesitate or to worry. They had only the moments that were offered before them.

At any time one of them could be found out and killed. That was the cold hard truth. They would be pitted against each other, and they would be fought against. There would be people out there who wanted nothing more then to destroy the bonds that tied them to one another. Yet they would always hold firm. They would always stand strong.

It was because of that love. That filial love that went through each and every one of them. They didn't care about the faults that they presented to them. They didn't care about the attitudes or the problems that they had with each other occasionally. No. They didn't care about any of that. They loved each other, and they believed in the world around them.

They believed in the people of the world. They trusted in them all. The watchers realized that the Demolition Boys were different then the soulless people they had met that day. The Demolition Boys were people of their own. They had lives and loves that were far more honorable than anything they had ever seen.

As the scenes looped together, fading slowly the sound almost becoming meaningless over the endless drone of the sights of the children. Their smiling faces and their laughter that was making everyone in the real world state to tear up, were so strikingly honest. None of them had anything to fear while they were together.

The door had opened, and Korg had joined in on the fun. The slightly awkward man moved towards his apprentice and clearly asked her if she was alright though there wasn't any real auditory proof about his concern. The man placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and looked at her seriously, and she just smiled up at him with that winning grin. She would never let anyone worry needlessly about her if she had the choice.

Michaels was there as well, Bryan looking at the man with blatant respect and approval. Everything was montaging in a way that made the watchers start to weep. This pure and innocent devotion to everyone. This honest affection that was so much more then what they'd ever given them credit for, it was beautiful.

Those children were anything but the heartless murderers they pretended to be. Their lives were warped and changed, and they probably didn't experience the best things in the world, but through everything they had managed to get one thing that many were deprived of. They had friends and family that loved and accepted them. They had people who stood there and looked out for them.

There are few people that could get a following so large. Their relationships were strong and they were vital. They were things that could be proud of and jealous of. They were things that would make anyone love them.

As the scenes flooded and flowed with each other, it became all the more obvious to everyone just how far these people went for each other. They would do anything, and that was a gift in itself. Korg was talking to Anna softly, the two of them standing on the outskirts of the room. The others had settled down somewhat and Bryan was grudgingly cleaning up the mess slowly yet surely.

Everyone was talking quietly, Tala and Kai sitting next to each other on the couch – Spencer and Ian on the floor in front of them. Voltaire had decided that Bryan should clean up by himself since he'd refused to help out earlier. The others had whole-heartedly agreed.

Anna's face was one of pure shock. Her eyes were wide and her face was drained of all color. She looked like she was about to cry, she turned to look up at Voltaire who seemed to know what was going on and what was being said.

"This is only if you wish it little one." Voltaire told her simply, and all eyes went to the three people who were talking so strangely.

"What's going on?" Kai finally asked, having no difficulties whatsoever when it came to budding into someone else's conversation.

"I...he..." Anna didn't look like she knew what she was supposed to say. She looked at Korg, who was awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other. Clearly he didn't really know what to say either. The man was awkwardness incarnate. He was a computer whiz and someone who worked on mechanics and operating systems, he didn't do well in conversation, and he didn't like being the center of attention.

Voltaire, clearly taking pity on the two of them, explained the situation the best. His words were light, but there was a hint of happiness that was hiding in them, and soon everyone found themselves being drawn into that similar emotion.

"Mr. Jones here has requested the guardianship of Miss. Anna. He'd like to adopt her." No one spoke for a long while. Yet when everyone did it was all at once. Tala was snickering slightly as he winked at Anna who didn't look like she quite knew what to say. She kept staring at Korg in stunned silence.

"What's the matter Dama?" The redhead asked as he moved to give her a congradulatory hug. Kai was demanding she make her way towards him, his usual self assured and confident self clearly soaking up the _I'm injured you move _card.

"Is it cheating?" She mumbled silently, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"What cheating?"

"Getting a new family...a new father when I just got finished being written out of my old family...the family that raised me before this."

"It's not cheating or wrong to find happiness or to feel included Anya. There's no need to feel like you're not allowed to be loved or to have things that make you feel good about yourself. I told you in America, there are people out there, Korg for instance, who love you and want you to be a part of your family, and _that's _the family you should run to. That's the family you should be a part of." She looked up at him for a brief moment.

"Who would have guessed someone so much younger then me gave such good advice?" He laughed, shaking his head as he started to pull her towards Kai who was all but whining now to have her come over to him.

"I never answered you did I?" He mused out loud as they approached the red eyed boy who stood up gracefully (clearly not at all as injured as everyone was allowing him to complain he was) and embraced her.

Kai was telling her how happy he was for her, and there were a few other words spoken here and there, but her attention wasn't on Kai. It was on his brother who was smiling coyly at her. She motioned for him to continue but he just shrugged.

"The answer has been, and will probably always be yes." Was all he sad, and the screen faded.

When it came back, the date showed that it was a year later. Time seemed to flow much faster now, more things getting prepared towards the danger and very real future that was quickly approaching them. Tala was sitting on Kai's bed, his hands fiddling with a tie as he tried to dress himself in what looked to be rather fancy clothes.

Kai was dressed equally as smart, if not more so. He had a few accents on his high class jacket and his trousers were hugging him with more care. It was obvious that the measurements for Tala's suit were done by guesswork where someone had expertly matched Kai to his own wear. Tala rolled his eyes slightly as Kai moved over without even being needed to be asked and tied his brother's tie for him.

They were going to a party where several important people were going to be. Tala had been sent with Boris to the mansion in order to pick up and put on a Tux that had been special ordered for him, and they were going to be meeting up with the rest of the Demolition Boys, Hazards, and Maims at the party. Boris was going to be showing them off to the rest of the world, and everyone was going to be there – even Anna.

"The great champion of the world and you can't even tie your own tie." Kai teased easily enough and Tala glowered at him.

"Keep it up and I'll show you just what this great champion of the world does in his spare time while you're off blinking at computer screens trying to keep up with Anna."

Kai shrugged simply, accepting what was being said to him easily enough as he turned to look bac at the mirror and finished with the accents on his own outfit. They were dressing up for something, that was for certain. Tala's hair was stylized in what would come to be the traditional spikes he was known for, and Kai was starting to have grown out his bangs. He still had a bit of a pony tail though, which Tala pointed out with a smirk.

"I'll cut it eventually." Kai mumbled as he ran his fingers through his darker locks.

"You'll cut that when you decide to challenge me for the world championship." The redhead scoffed easily enough. Kai laughed.

"I'll take that bet."

"You wish. You're getting slow in your old age, _grandpa_."

"You're older you twit!" Kai hissed as he crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. Luka stuck his tongue out.

"That's not how I hear it." Both boys turned towards the door and instantly they dipped their heads in respect towards their grandfather. "And look at the two heirs of my empire.' Tala shifted uncomfortably at that. He didn't want the empire, and Voltaire well knew it. The old man just looked at him with fondness, ignoring the tension in the boy's shoulders.

Luka only wanted to continue seeing his family, he wanted nothing to do with the business that Voltaire ran. Kai was easily groomed for it, and it was clear he made the better heir. He worked like a business man, and he contained the aura and presence for it. In Luka's ideal world, when all of this was over he would retire to the country side and just sleep.

That made him laugh though. Talking of retirement when he was only thirteen. He had his whole life ahead of him, and none of it ever went the way he wanted it to. Voltaire just smiled none the less, his eyes looking over the only two boys he had left to remember his daughter by.

"Are you ready...?" Voltaire was looking at them intently now, making sure the two of them were prepared for the night ahead. They both glanced at each other for a long moment, before the kind and gentle spirits that had filled their bodies only moments before dissipated and was replaced by the cold and commanding auras of those who were trained to direct and to follow orders. Nothing more and nothing less.

They nodded sharply, falling into stride beside one another. They didn't dare glance at each other as they followed Voltaire out of the room and down the series of halls through the mansion. Down at the end of the hall the watchers were stunned to see Boris. The man was also sharply dressed and his eyes were falling on Kai with an almost feral gaze of want and desperation.

Tala didn't once look at the boy at his side. He didn't once take in anything that had anything at all to do with the person he was in actuality so close with. Voltaire nodded to him, and then motioned towards the redhead without much care.

"His measurements were wrong." The man growled, his voice sickening it was so putrid to the ear. It was almost as though bugs were crawling up your spine. So different from the friendly tone that had come out of the mouth only minutes before. It was so different from everything they had seen. So much like how he always was now...

"Were they now..." Without warning, a slap snapped across Tala's face. The boy didn't even flinch. He didn't even move. He took the slap, his eyes staring straight a head with perfect collection and grace. At his side, Kai remained motionless, almost with an eternally bored expression on his face. It looked like he'd rather be watching a soap opera instead of having to sit through this exchange.

"Grandfather. Can we go now or are we going to be here all night with this riff-raff?" Kai asked with such a tone of carelessness one actually had to double take if they knew how close the two were.

"Yes yes, we mustn't be late. I'd have to agree, lateness is only acceptable when it's done fashionably, and clearly that is not the case with this." Voltaire was looking his eldest up, disgust on his features. Then, suddenly, the boy did something entirely unexpected.

He bowed.

Low and graceful as though he'd been doing it all his life. As though he were a mere servant to a king that was nothing more then a foot soldier to the king's fance. As though he were nothing but a worm under the king's foot...and not a prince in his own right. Not the prince to the empire that though he didn't want he was still partially entitled to.

His right leg swept back and his arm crossed his chest, his head sinking lowly. His eyes were adverted, never meeting the man's before him. His words were softly spoken and with a reverence that was Oscar worthy in its acting perfection. It looked so completely real, that the true clarity on just how good Tala was at lying became clear.

"I apologize Master Voltaire if I've offended you. If my presence would be an embarrassment to you in any way, I would rather stay behind dutifully and accept full punishment for doing so rather then cause you any social harm. I beg you to forgive me, though it is not my place to do so." The words came out silky and smooth, blue eyes trained on his shoes, and without looking up in the slightest.

Tyson's mouth hit the floor. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nobody could. Tala Ivanov was an actor of such quality. Even though only moments before he had been talking as though he were an equal with the man before him, now he was bowing and offering such respect and fealty to him for no reason other then Boris was there.

Ah yes...Boris. Boris changed everything. To Boris, Kai was barely even in the country. He was about the world at random private institutions, learning how to fence and the like. To Boris, Tala was nothing but an obedient maggot that was his for the whipping. To Boris, the two of them did not have a relationship. Kai had forgotten his _brother _and Tala was to twisted to care or to even think about Kai any longer. Childhood friends that were now bitter acquaintances. Voltaire grinned cruelly, his hand waving the boy upwards as he directed his next words to Boris.

"Well trained that one. I've been keeping an eye on him. Much improved in those bi-weekly meetings. Now. We really must be going. You'll take the mutt?" Tala's was still bowing, never once daring to straighten.

"Of course sire." Spoken like Jafar to the Sultan, all slippery and devilish. He sounded like he was about to stab the man in the back right then and there.

"Grandfather." Kai's tone was impatient. He wanted to end this pleasantry now if it was possible. He was purposefully ignoring Boris in every way possible. Their eyes hadn't even met once.

"Yes, yes boy. Come along." Voltaire had turned to leave first, and Kai was at his heels instantly.

"Why was that wretch in my rooms in the first place? He better not have nicked anything." Kai'd said it loud enough for the two behind them to hear, but Tala's face was neutral as Boris clapped him on the shoulder and shoved him forwards – almost daring him to lose his balance. He didn't though. He kept right on moving with the ease of years of practice.

"He's the next world champion of beyblading Kai. He hardly needs to nick one of _your _belongings." Voltaire scoffed as he waved one of his hands. "But I'll send one of the maids up to ensure nothing was taken if it will ease your soul."

"It would. Next world champion my ass. I could wipe the floor with him in a heartbeat."

Tala actually snorted at that, earning him a rough shove from Boris and an acute glare at Kai who had clearly heard him. Voltaire and Kai then dissapeared out the front door and left the two standing in the front hall, looking at each other for a moment. Boris' dark eyes were glaring at the red head who was watching on with a blank look on his face.

"Got something to say about Lord...Kai?" Boris asked as he all but seethed in Tala's face. The man had taken several steps into the boy's personal area, but he hadn't moved. He'd stayed dutifully still.

"Permission to speak freely...sir?" He asked obediently, knowing which way to word everything. Boris nodded sharply, clearly irritated. "He's an insufferable ass who is as arrogant as a strutting cur around a bitch in heat."

The slap wasn't unexpected, but the blow to the stomach seemingly was. Tala hit the ground before he even had time to blink, his head ringing as he stared up at the ceiling. He wouldn't move until he was ordered to do so, and he lay there as Boris towered over him. Unconsciously, his arms had moved to rest before his ribs to avoid getting kicked while he was down.

"Get up." The man growled, and the boy did without complaint, standing up quickly and sharply. "You're entitled to your opinion...but that boy is the only way our plan is going to work."

"Our...plan sir?"

"Yes...you're aware of what we're planning, I know you are. It just so happens that that...insufferable ass, as you so charmingly put it, is the only one who can control Black Dranzer...or has been the only one who hasn't been killed from her from trying to use it."

"Excuse me sir, but is Black Dranzer really all that difficult to use? It doesn't look all that complicated." He had expected to be hit again, and was slightly surprised when he wasn't.

"You want to give it a go?" Boris was looking at Tala sharply, his eyes digging into the boy's skull.

That wasn't the plan. That wasn't the plan at all. Kai was originally supposed to be the one to control Black Dranzer _only_. If that was the case, then Boris would be stopped for several years until Kai returned to the Abbey. He wouldn't be able to progress further until Kai went back.

Yet the temptation was to great. It was evident on Tala's face. If he did this too...if he took this part over as well...Kai wouldn't have to go back. He could continue to live his sheltered life with the ISA and Voltaire and he wouldn't have to return to the place of nightmares that had all but broken him. Kai would be free from Boris forever.

Slowly, the red head nodded. Boris grinned and clapped the boy on the shoulder. He was happy with his pupil's choice, that much was obvious. He was clearly excited with the possibilities too. He motioned for Tala to continue out the door and into the car that was waiting for them.

"Just you wait...if you pull this off...you're going to rule the world...we'll dethrone Voltaire and his pathetic grandson, and you will be the champion of everything...my own little Prince of Darkness."

"And you would be my King?" Tala asked softly, looking at his one living blood relative who had pulled him to his side almost uncomfortably.

"Of course...I'll even let you call me father."


	15. Sleight of Hand

**Windstar: **First of all, sorry this is late. Last week I flew out to Los Angeles to see my sister for the first time in a year, and watch her graduate. I would have updated sooner, but I wanted to finish the chapter I was working on before I did so. I hope this isn't to late for a lot of you, though I did get more reviews the longer I waited...is this a hint? Anyway, because I know the last chapter was a doosey, I want you to know that this one is very much a filler chapter. It's there to help set the scene and give more background information before the big plunge. Within the next two chapters things are going to get intense.

Right now I'm half way through Bryan's Tale, and from the way it looks I may extend Tala's hiatus. It all depends. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. If there's something you desperately want to see, or get explained, please don't hesitate to ask.

As always I love the reviews and the more I get the more inclined I am to update on time. (Especially considering my track record these past two weeks). I can't wait to hear what you all think, please let me know!

**Chapter Fourteen: **

Everyone was staring at the TV when they saw the next scene. Some people didn't know whether they were supposed to look away or not, but clearly it wouldn't have been on the screen if Anna hadn't wanted them to see it. Still though, it made things rather...difficult considering that no many really wanted to see this far into Tala's personal life.

Anna's back was against a wall, her arms around Tala's neck as she pulled him to her. Tala was holding her to him, his fingers lost in her hair as his lips danced on hers. Several months after the last scene, by now there were no doubts at all that the two had a...relationship of sorts.

Surprising, especially considering the fact that Tala's last visual kissing experience had ended in a panic attack. Clearly that was just a phase though, because he'd lost himself in that kiss as he pulled the sixteen year old girl to him. The intimacy of the two was getting slightly embarrassing to watch, and the less exposed members of the watchers were blushing furiously while Enrique laughed proudly.

The door swung open though, and the couple ceased their kiss to glare hatefully towards Bryan who didn't seem perturbed in the least about what he'd just walked in on. At that particular moment, Kenny looked at the date a little bit more closely and yelped. Someone managed to hit the pause button and stare at him.

"What is it chief?" Tyson asked in confusion, trying to figure out what was wrong with his friend...unless it was the kiss of course...But suddenly Emily was staring at the date too and she had a similar reaction.

"The date! That's the day before the World Championships two years ago!" She said as she motioned towards it. The other All Starz were nodding, of course they would be nodding though...they had been there.

"Man, we're going to see you guys in this!" Max asked in awe.

"Probably...I wouldn't be surprised if we all had cameos." She was looking at the others that she had known to be at various tournaments throughout the years.

"So what happened at this one?" Tyson asked as he motioned towards the TV. Emily scowled.

"We lost, what do you think brain dead?" She hissed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The Demolition Boys had been reigning champions for two years before they bombed it to you." The Rookie of the Year's fists clenched as he glowered at her. "It's the truth!" She hissed when he wouldn't stop.

Rei simply pressed the play button and drowned them out, drawing attention back to the scene where Tala's head was resting against Anna's, their angry eyes staring at Bryan who stood unabashedly at the door, one hand on the door knob.

"Yo Luka, time to go, Michaels wants us to do a run through of the equipment and stations of the agents at the tournament." He tilted his head back towards where he'd just come from. "Anna, grab your little gizmos or whatever you gotta dish us out."

"Since when did _you _give orders to _me _Kutznetsov?" Tala hissed, blue eyes flashing.

"Since you started snogging in closets and making us all late."

"Bryan!" Anna growled, her face blushed deep bred as he shrugged.

"Well hurry it up. These biweekly meetings aren't for you two to discover your libidos, they're for work!" He walked out of the room, and after he sent her a slightly guilty look, Tala took her hand and followed after him, sighing the whole way.

When the screen came back their setting had changed. At sixteen, Anna had ceased being the tallest, Spencer had hit his growth spurt and he was now towering above them all. Bryan was just under him though, Kai and Tala competing (ironically) for third, and Ian was by far the smallest.

Anna was just smaller then Tala, and it was clear she wasn't all that thrilled with that. A frown set on her features every time their eyes met and she had to look up to greet his gaze, and she didn't like it. He grinned down at her every time though, winking with a brilliant smile and a flash of bright blue eyes.

Micahels had sat them all in this office, that was empty for everything except for a desk and a black board with a map of sorts on it. They were all seated on the floor, stretched out and looking rather comfortable as they lazed around.

Anna had a book of poetry of some sort in her hand. She must hav been reading it earlier. Bryan looked at it curiously as she sat down on the ground. "What's that?" He asked as he looked at it.

"Just some beat poetry, it's God-damn depressing at times though, but it's a great read. Gotta love Ginsberg." She smiled for a moment then looked thoughtful. "Hey Bry, how's that friend of yours?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's fine, I'll find some way to tell him you said hi."

"Okay." She nodded, and then she looked over to Tala who smiled faintly at her.

Michaels had started talking now though, going over procedures at the first world championships that the Demolition Boys would be a part of. The Hazards were finally being set aside, and now it was these four boys' responsibility to compete.

Kai had teased Tala about it earlier, only a few short months ago. Now it seemed like reality was coming down on them. As for those parting words that had occurred between Tala and Boris in the last scene, there didn't appear to be anything new on that front. As far as the watchers could tell, nothing else had happened over the past few months.

The threat that Tala was going to start training with Black Dranzer hadn't occurred yet, and that was a good thing, because none of them wanted to know what it would be like to have Tala behind the control on the demon bird. Still though, it was something that the red head had agreed too, and it didn't seem like anyone else would quite appreciate the fact he'd done so.

Under the influence of Black Dranzer, it seemed like whoever was blading with it wouldn't be conscious of their actions. If Tala's true desires were brought forth through the bird...there would be more chaos then anyone would be able to deal with, and everyone was starting to get slightly worried about the fact that that seemed to have been pushed on the way side.

Nobody on the screen looked particularly wary about that upcoming future, especially considering the fact that it was an all to real possibility. Kenny turned to Emily though, eager to find out the end of the story before watching the beginning.

"Was Black Dranzer at that championships?" Emily shook her head though, only at this one.

"Tala was barely even there to be honest. He showed up for his matches and then dissapeared, the other there stuck around, but he was in and out only for those matches...and when he was there, he only battled for about thirty seconds- if that. He hit world record history that year for the fastest battle at a professional level."

Anna was laying back, her head resting on Luka's clavicle, his arms wrapped around her body as he played with her hair teasingly. She glanced up at him every so often, but he was clearly making an effort to appear disinterested. Though there was a twinkle in his eyes and a teasing smile each time she poked his arm.

Michaels looked at them with a stern gaze, but both just blinked up innocently in his direction whenever he thought about reprimanding them. He was about ready to yell at them when Tala shifted Anna so she wasn't laying back on him and the two separated slightly, knowing that this wouldn't be getting them any grace points with their leader.

"Kai, I want you to be with Voltaire in the booths." Michaels said as he moved over to the blackboard and placed an 'x' on the map that was now clearly of the stadium. "Your job is essentially to collect information on those around you. Anyone that says anything that pertains to the Abbey, you need to keep it in mind. Anna..." He motioned towards the girl who stood up quickly and went to the desk nearby.

"Alrighty, lets see...you've got your very own cell phone for this mission." She said simply as she picked up and displayed the small blue phone that was on the table. Bryan hooted out a barking laugh when he saw the phoenix key chain that was attached to the phone. It was an obvious attempt to make it look like something that Kai would appreciate, but it made it look like such a girly charm that the Air master couldn't contain the hoots of laughter that were coming out of his mouth.

Kai glared at him, forcing him into silence. He was struggling not to crack a grin at it too though. Anna was staring at them all, waiting for the opportunity to continue, but now that Bryan had stopped laughing, Ian and Spencer were struggling to not giggle.

"Do I have good reception on that thing? Mine has a shitty plan. I barely get out my front step before-"

"It has perfect reception for four numbers and that's that." She said, cutting him off simply enough. "The police, hospitals, firemen, and us are the only numbers this phone can and will send out. Other then that it is only good for one thing. It's a recording device. You click this button on the side and everything within a 60m radius will be recorded no problem. It has a built in camera, and it has a status bar that can send you coded updates. For this mission everything will be in Alpha Delta form." She tossed it towards him, and he caught it easily enough.

"Sounds useless to me." He mumbled. "Couldn't you have put in the pizza place down the street's number at least?" He grumbled, clearly annoyed with the inconvenience of having to carry two phones with him from now on.

But if Kai was annoyed, Anna was furious. Her face fell into one that contained a sickly smile as she glowered at him. "Sure...we could do that. We could put any number in the world on that phone and then restrict it so that all the rest were blocked. We could do that. Why don't you tell us all the places you want to have access to a number that's strictly forbidden to be known. You give us 150,000 USD to build it and reprogram it only to accept and receive calls from the numbers you want, and I'll do that right away. What do you say?" She asked sweetly, her eyes pinning him to the floor.

"On second thought...no. I'm good. Thanks."

"That's what I thought."

"You got mean somewhere along the way Anya." He mumbled as he took a picture of her annoyed features.

"Only because I deal with _you _everyday."

Luka snickered, and Kai hit the back of his head lightly. The red head scowled, frowning at him with distaste. It wasn't his fault that Kai was being difficult on purpose. He wasn't even attempting to let Anna do her job nicely. He was being a nuisance and he deserved to get a boot in the but for complaining the way he was.

"Tu novia es una punta." Kai murmured, motioning towards Anna who suddenly seemed far less friendly then she appeared before hand.

"Es no esta?" Tala raised an eyebrow at him, finding it hard to believe that Kai honestly thought that of the girl he'd been growing up with. Despite what Kai had said, Anna was the slate haired boy's best friend for 28 out of 30 days of the month. Only on the two days that the Demolition Boys were together did Kai always seem irritated with Anna's presence, and that could easily enough be attributed to the fact that he wanted to keep his friends to himself and not share them with others.

Kai was relatively selfish and he was as arrogant as they come, but he never once really meant half the things he said. Like calling her the equivalent of a bitch. He probably didn't mean that. In fact, he probably didn't mean to say she was _always _a bitch either, yet he'd said it if only to rile her up.

She hadn't really reacted though, either used to the fact that he was teasing her at her expense, or not really understanding what had been said. Obviously the words were _said _in a negative fashion, but there was always the possibility that she didn't know Spanish well enough (or at all) to be able to translate his words.

Tala had stepped in, though he hadn't really been going to her defense, just clarifying more then anything else. It was testament enough that even though Anna and he had been involved in a relationship – it hadn't taken away from his relationship with his brother that was still as close as ever.

Which only made the fact that he'd made that deal with Boris all the more surprising. If Tala could actually blade with Black Dranzer, a possibility considering just how well he could actually handle himself in a bey dish, then why was that they still needed Kai to do so? The obvious answer was that Tala couldn't. He never could.

Yet Boris seemed to think he could, and so did Tala. To that extent, he certainly _seemed _to possess the ability to blade with the demon bird, however there were so many questions around it.

The boys were still discussing semantics.

"Es. Ella es permanentemente una punta."

"She's not _always..._one_..._Just on days when you're being a jerk on purpose."

"_Esta _una punta." Kai finally conceded, sighing as he shook his head.

"As _I _was saying." Michaels cut in, glaring at them to be quiet. "The tournament runs for three days, the preliminaries will be up against Spain, and you should probably be up against Japan in the smi-finals. America should be your opponent in the final round."

Steven nodded, affirming that that was actually what had taken place. It didn't really matter though, they were going to be witnessing the battles soon enough. In truth, they wanted to see what these videos would portray their battles like. They wanted to see what was happening behind the scenes, and they wanted to see what the ISA had been doing during that time.

Were they involved in any of the schemes that were being plotted? Had the All Starz been pawns even back then?

"What is your current line up against Spain?" Michaels asked as he looked at the boys.

"I'm up first." Ian said with a shrug. "Spence next. If they need him – Bry. Luka gets to be a little pansy and not blade until the finals."

"Hey, now that's not fair, why is it that _he _gets to take a break and the rest of us have to work?" Kai hissed as he looked over towards Tala who was grinning despite himself.

"Because my job is to sit around and look pretty." He flapped his eye lashes a few times and Anna snickered behind her hand politely. Bryan looked like he was choking as he tried to cover his laugh behind a rather loud and obvious cough.

"Before you get your hopes up...I should tell you...you've got a long way to go for _that_ little brother." Kai placed his hand on Tala's shoulder and he knocked it off with glower and a punch to his head. Kai blocked it and went to tackle him before Michaels snapped at them to quit acting like toddlers.

"Can any of you sit through one meeting while acting your age?!" He hissed, and the bantering fell silent as they looked up at him awkwardly. Slowly yet surely though, Spencer's hand raised in the air, and Kai chucked his cell phone at his head, calling him a suck up.

At which point, by now completely fed up with their immature antics, Michaels slammed his hand on the blackboard, echoing a loud snap through the room as the board actually cracked underneath the strain of his fist. The group looked at him, suddenly very serious.

"Look. I don't care what you all want to do with your lives when you're not on my time. When you are on my time though. Let me make one thing perfectly clear. _You do as I tell you to. _If you all want to dick around, then you can leave, you can leave and I really don't care. I'll just blow up that Abbey and make sure that Boris just dies in the end. Him along with every other kid in that place. If you actually want to do some work and do what I say so that scores of people don't die for no reason, then _shut up _and start listening to me."

"Sorry Michaels." Kai murmured, actually looking a bit upset that he'd caused such a ruckus.

"Anna is going to be running intel during the tournament. When she sees you, she will slip you anything that you need to know, or you will do the same to her should you have something to pass along. I'm assuming you've worked out a transfer system? You'd said you'd work on it." He was looking at Tala who nodded, a shit eating grin on his face (though he contained himself). "If there are any changes to the line up, you will let us know. We need to be prepared in case anything happens. I doubt that Boris will be doing something extreme on your first tournament. Has he said anything?"

"Nothing really, there haven't even been extra training sessions. He's just been normal lately, which I guess is a mixed blessing. You'd think he'd be running us into the ground considering." Bryan shrugged and leaned stretched his arms slightly.

Perhaps it was only because they were looking for it did the watchers see Tala's smile fade ever so slightly, something flashed across his eyes, but it was gone before they were sure they saw anything out of the ordinary.

"Well then...is there anything anyone wants to say before we end?" Michaels was looking at Tala, as though he knew something that the others didn't, but the redhead just smiled through, not admitting to anything.

"Nope, I think that about covers it." He said simply enough, and the others nodded in agreement, and whatever it was Michaels wanted to get brought up, dissapeared by the way side.

The screen faded, and when it came back, Tala was lying down on a steel table. He was topless, only a pair of shorts covered his body. He was glancing around him, and from the looks of things, it was clear that he was in the Abbey. There were doctors and scientists all around him, and the date declared that it was only seven hours after that meeting at the ISA building.

Boris was off to the side, looking over some paperwork as he glanced up occasionally to look at the boy that was lying so still before them all. A doctor was prepping him for something, checking his vitals from where the were reading off a sensor on his finger. His tongue poked out of his lips slightly, and it licked them as though in anticipation of whatever was to come next.

"Sir...he's ready for anesthesia." One of the doctors said, and Boris moved towards them, his hands setting on the table, paperwork placed off to the side.

Obediently, Tala lay still, his eyes meeting his blood father's coldly for a moment. There was no love between them. None whatsoever. This was a business deal. Tala would do whatever it was that Boris wanted from him, and in exchange, Kai wouldn't have to.

"When we put this chip in your head...you'll be able to connect with the BD server much easier, perhaps you'll even be able to control it."

"You really think that doing this the night before the tournament is a good idea...?" Tala whispered softly. "Someone's bound to notice."

"Well...why do you think you're not blading?" The man scoffed as though it were obvious. Tala's eyes fluttered suddenly, and he glanced down to his arm where one of the doctors had injected him with something, and then he fell into a deep sleep.

Watching the doctors start to drill into the teenager's head was something that noone was either prepared for or willing to see. The first drops of blood that started to drip down his face were enough to make several people feel sick to their stomachs, and so they were happy when the screen faded away and they were kept from watching the surgery take place.

"What's the BD server?" Mariah whispered softly, as she looked at the others in confusion. She was certain that she hadn't heard about it before. They didn't know, and they hadn't heard t before. It was something new and something that was probably of great importance considering that surgery seemed to be required to even control it.

"BD...Black Dranzer?" Kenny wondered softly.

"Why would you need surgery to control a bit beast?"

"It might not be a bit beast..." Lee bit the inside of his lip as he looked thoughtful. The others glanced at him in confusion. "Think about it...Black Dranzer has always been something that was out of everyone's control. Even Kai didn't seem to have that much control on it, it was always doing what his desires were but never what he specifically ordered it to do. Maybe...Black Dranzer _isn't _a bitbeast. Maybe it's something else entirely."

"Like what? A computer program? They called it a server..." Emily opened her laptop and started typing away on it, the others had put the video on hold, and were looking over her shoulder as they tried to see what she was up to.

"What are you looking for?" Kenny asked as he opened Dizzy.

"I'm going to hack into the ISA's files and see what we've got there..."

"You're going to _hack _into a government agency's files!?" Tyson's mouth practically dropped to the ground, he looked completely flabbergasted, but Emily didn't look preturbed. She was busy pulling up files and systems to help her with her effort. Kenny was doing the same, and the two of them were typing away with as much skill and speed as they were able to do so.

"I've got something!" Emily sounded extremely proud of herself, and everyone was staring in awe as her and Kenny's screens synced together to show a database of information and files that were being decoded.

Then all at once there was a bright light on their screens, and they blinked in shock and horror as their screens showed twin images of a door slamming shut before them. A hand appeared on their screens, and it turned back and forth in a crude motion that looked like it was a parent wagging their finger at a disobedient child. Words were appearing on their screens, appearing quicker and quicker each time the two tried to escape the fate that was slowly crashing down upon them.

_The files you have tried to access are not for your eyes to see. _

"I'll show you!" Emily hissed angrily as she started to pull up a program, she was running through a series of operations and calculations and started to put everything together. "Nothing beats this!" She entered it in, but in less time then it took for her to blink another screen took over her current one.

_Stop now, or you will regret it. _An image of flames started to flash across her LCD, but she was already working around it, typing harder and faster then ever before. Kenny was working with her too, sending her files that she could use, and then very suddenly, just as she tried her third path into the system, everything dissapeared.

A trash can appeared. And that hand from before continued to tsk at them.

_I warned you. _Was all it said before the grubby fingers of that hand started to move forward and pick up all the icons on her screen and drop them into the trash. She stared at it in horror, trying to move her mouse, but nothing happened. The hand controlled everything. It was pulling up every file and every system the computer had to offer and placed them in the trash.

Over and over again, until everything was gone. Until everything in the computer was in that bin, and then that hand took out a lighter and threw it in the trash. No one could believe what they were seeing.

_You loose, Emily. Now your computer goes with it. _

Seeing her name on the screen made her screech, she jumped up in horror as suddenly a plethora of files started to flood it, coming from no where and everywhere the computer was being flooded with so much information, and the fire kept burning at such a fast speed, that when the computer finally had enough and blew itself up, all she could do was stare in white faced horror as her precious laptop caught fire.

Rei grabbed it off her before it could burn her legs though, and he threw it onto the veranda where the weather could have its way with it. There was a bing and all eyes looked at Kenny's laptop where he was praying a similar fate wouldn't happen to Dizzy who was screaming obscenities at them all for doing something as fool hearty as try to break into the ISA.

That hand appeared on his screen, and he yelped, tears coming to his eyes as he thought he'd be seeing the last of his beloved laptop. It didn't have its trashcan companion though. Instead the hand kept on tsking at them, scolding them with such a motion.

_I wouldn't attempt to break into this server again Kenny. Unless you want your bit beast friend to meet the same fate as Emily's laptop. I don't think she'd appreciate it. _

"How do they know who you are!?" Johnny yelped as he looked at the screen in growing horror.

_We're the ISA you fool. We know everything. _

"What the hell!? Is this room bugged? Did that Anna girl bug us?!" Tyson was squealing with horror and fear, and everyone was suddenly very uneasy.

_It's Dizzy. She's a computer program, and so when you talk, everything you say is recorded as data into this laptop. Since We have control of this computer and its data, We have access to her data files on what she's recording. _

"Who are you?" Emily sniffed, tears in her eyes. "Why would you do that to my laptop!?"

_You were attempting to break into the ISA's restricted files, what did you think would happen to your laptop?_

"Is this Anna?" Kenny whispered. "You do a lot of the tech work right...so you run security?"

_How do you know of Anna?_

They froze. Whoever they were talking to...did not know that Anna had given them the tape. If it was the Demolition Boys...they might not be to happy with the fact their personal lives had been displayed before them all. If it was an agent at the ISA...they were certain these files were confidential and they had no business looking at these. Still...what was with the use of the royal 'we?'

"We've spoken." Rei put in softly. "She came to talk to us about how we'd treated Kai in the hospital"

_Did she now._

"We didn't ....have any right to say what we said back there."

_Oh really. _

"Are you one of the Demolition Boys?" The hand suddenly dissapeared and was replaced with a chicken. All eyes blinked at it in confusion.

_This line will be terminated in two seconds. _

Then there was nothing more. Everything disappeared. Everything looked back to normal, and upon asking her, Dizzy affirmed that she was alone in the computer, and that everything was silent on her end. The chicken was gone.

No one quite knew what to say or what to do. They looked at each other in shock and awe. Whatever had just happened, it didn't look like they should try hacking into the ISA again. That was for sure. The one thing that they could figure was that Anna wasn't the only person in the ISA who had halfway decent hacking skills, and it was clear that one of the Demolition Boys was now in on the fact that Anna had spoken to them at some point.

"Maybe we should just keep watching the video...and it'll explain everything." Kevin suggested after a while, and for once, everyone agreed with him.

They were in the locker room. Bryan was sitting on one of the benches, Tala's head resting on his shoulder as he gasped for breath. His pale fingers were gripping the side of his head painfully, a flush was visible on his features, and he looked incredibly ill. He didn't look like he could stand, let alone set any world records for the fastest professional beyblading battles.

Spencer and Ian were standing in front of the two, looking at the redhead with pure worry on their features. They didn't look happy with what they saw, and it was clear that they were not exactly thrilled with the idea that he had even been brought to the stadium in such a state.

"Hey Luka...what's wrong..." But Tala wasn't answering. His hands were clutching his head painfully, and tears were forming in his eyes. He felt like his skull was about to split open from the pressure that had been building up inside of it. He was all but seizing as he struggled to sit up.

Boris walked into the room proudly, Voltaire at his heels. Instantly Bryan and Tala moved to their feet, but Luka unsurprisingly crashed back to his knees, his breath leaving him as he collapsed. Bryan tried to catch him, his hand snapping out to grab his arm. One of the boy's hands were clutching his head where he was all but squeezing it to death.

"What is this?!" Voltaire hissed as he motioned towards the redhead who was gasping, trying to get air into his lungs. He clenched his eyes closed and it was by force of will alone that he managed to push himself up to his feet.

Breathing seemed like a chore to do, but he managed to hold himself upright, or at least he managed to keep himself upright enough for Bryan to hold him the rest of the way. Kai was now visible, his back against the wall of the locker room. His face was schooled into one of utter boredom and annoyance, but his eyes were flickering with clear worry. He wanted to know what the hell had happened over night.

"I thought you had said that he was going to be taking the starting position from Ian. The boy looks barely able to stand on his own two feet!" Voltaire turned back to Boris, demanding an explanation.

"My dear Lord Voltaire, please rest assured that Tala will be more then capable of competing in this tournament...and he _will_ impress you I'm certain of it." Boris was grinning, clearly entertained for some odd reason.

Kai was staring at Tala who tried weakly to smile at him, but the smile was lost the moment it looked like his body was overcome with another round of blind pain. He wavered, but this time Bryan managed to hold him upright.

"You had best be right...I will not accept anything less then perfection from you Balkov."

"Of course my Lord." Boris bowed to him, but the older man was already making his way out of the locker room. Kai pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, silently walking away as he started to play with it.

It was the perfect deception. Balkov would never have known that the phone he was using was the phone that would be sending information about his future's demise. He would never assume that the messages that were being sent were actually all going to be pointing to his destruction.

As soon as they were gone, Bryan started to put Tala back on the bench, but Boris slapped him across the face for even considering it. The falcon wielder stood there, holding his aching and for some reason clearly injured friend while Boris towered over them menacingly

"He can't blade like this." Bryan whispered softly, but a sharp pain in his gut told him that Tala was more then able to stand up for himself when he needed to. Bryan hissed, and clutched his aching abdomen while Tala somehow managed to steady himself without assistance.

"Well now...you seem to be feeling better." Boris snickered as he looked him over, but Tala only nodded slowly yet surely, already willing to offer himself up for the cause that he truly believed in. Boris pulled out a needle that contained some sort of weird fluid in it. Moving quickly he took his son's arm in his and jabbed it into a vein. Tala barely even showed he felt it, his eyes half liden with the agony he was already in.

He'd just gotten out of brain surgery and now he was supposed to battle the world for a championship title. He was barely able to keep himself upright, and Boris knew it. This was a test, as much as everything before it was a test, this was a test too. He had to win, because if he won that meant that he would have proven to be stronger then anyone else that had come to pass through the Abbey. He was stronger then anyone else that had even thought about doing anything he was attempting to do. He was worthy to attempt to wield Black Dranzer and deal with this strange BD server.

"You will win." Was all Boris said before he spun on his heel and started towards the door. "Match starts in fifteen minutes. I suggest you make yourself look presentable by then."

He dissapeared down the hall, and just as his footsteps echoed away, Tala fell to his knees once more, clutching his head as he gasped in pain and misery. Spencer got there first this time. Kneeling before him, he pulled the teen so his head was resting against his chest.

"What the hell did he do to you?" He muttered quietly, he really wanted to know what was hurting his friend so much. Tala just laughed bitterly.

"What's a little brain surgery before a championship hmm?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

"_What_?" Ian gasped, staring at him in horror. "_Where?" _

"Jesus Christ, are you wearing a wig?" Bryan was slightly less subtle then Ian had been, but he tugged on the red hair for good measure – and when it didn't come up and all Tala did was yelp in pain, Spencer punched him hard enough to send him tripping over the bench.

"Extensions you ass." He cursed as he gripped the site of entry.

"Why the hell would he operate on you before the tournament?" Tala didn't answer though. He was completely silent. He didn't say a word after that. Just hissed as he struggled to keep himself focused. "And what did he give you?"

"Morphine. I can feel it kicking in." He answered that question, and it was obvious that he wasn't going to answer the earlier one. Spencer nodded though.

"Can you make it through your match?"

"I'll just kill them and get it over with. I won't play around." Those words were eerie sounding coming from him, but Spencer nodded without really considering them much.

"You should get going then, do you need help down the hall?"

"No. I'll be fine."

And he was. He won every match he was in. All of his team mates did. They were completely undefeated. When they got to the All Starz it was a simple line up. The captains went first against each other, and everyone was shocked to see how sickeningly easy it was for Tala to defeat his opponent. It took less then thirty seconds, his eyes cold and his posture stiff.

He didn't even look like he broke a sweat. The moments the blades hit the dish they circled once around each other, and Michael made some crack comment. It didn't last though. The moment the words left his mouth, his blade flew out of the dish and went scattering around the arena. It had been broken into three pieces.

He couldn't keep playing. The baseball player stared at him in dumb horror, but Tala didn't say a word. He turned on his heel and walked away.

The other All Starz suffered similar defeats, but none as obviously out classed as Michael had been towards the red head who was sitting down through the rest of the tournament, his eyes closed. He looked like he was sleeping, and it only infuriated his opponents all the more.

Now though, as the team watched the recorded version, they realized that Tala hadn't been sleeping. In fact...he had been cringing. He was trying to sit still and not hold his head or bring attention to the fact that he was horribly and totally in mind boggling pain. He was struggling to keep himself from collapsing with the pain that was echoing through his head.

With that in mind, Michael furiously clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't happy with the fact that when his opponent had been substantially weaker then he'd ever been before in his life, he was still able to beat him without so much as a fleeting glance. The defeat had been gruesome.

It had only been a few seconds and it had been so completely and totally done that there was no doubt in anyone's minds just how amazing the Demolition Boys were as beybladers. Tyson himself started to realize the depths of how much Tala had lightened up on him. If he had been able to knock Michael's blade out of the dish without so much as batting an eye, then their fight had been a fluke. It was the only other option.

Michael wasn't _that _bad of a beyblader that he would have lost so easily to the redhead. It was inconceivable. Closing his eyes, Tyson tried to steady his breath. He supposed that he should feel honored that Tala had let him win so graciously, and yet, he felt used. He felt no better then a dishrag. He felt like a little kid who had to have his brother let him win to make him feel good about himself. He hated that feeling. He hated feeling useless. He hated it completely.

The tournament was slowly coming to an end, and the others were watching as fans started to run onto the arena floor, just as they'd done at this past tournament. Bryan was at Tala's side, smiling tightly and struggling to make sure the redhead didn't lose his footing in all of this chaos.

He couldn't stop one fan though, a particularly boisterous one, from throwing her arms around Tala's neck and locking him in an intense lip lock. The redhead reeled back, Bryan caught him in shock – clearly not expecting that to have happened. Boris, who was standing off to the side, looked like he was about to poop a kitty cat he was in such stunned state.

The fan let his lips go after a few seconds, a blush on her features as she still held him close to her. One of his hands went to his mouth, as he tried to figure out what had just happened, but then suddenly he had a grin on his face and he kissed her back!

Bryan chortled with laughter as he tugged he redhead away from the an who was screaming for Tala to marry her, and the redhead for the first time all day looked like he was actually pretty pleased with himself.

It was only when the screen stayed were it was instead of switching to another scene, did the watchers get a good look at the fan. And it was of little surprise that it was Anna. Her hair was up in a childish ponytail, and she had curled bangs that hung down her face. She had lip gloss and eye liner on and there was a sticker of a star next to her left eye

She was wearing some garishly bright blue skirt and these horrifyingly pink boots that would have given Mariah's hair a run for their money. She even had earrings that hosted beyblades on them. Yet the most extreme of all of these was a T-shirt from the gift shop that had a picture of Tala on it. He was in the traditional beyblading stance and it looked like he was ready to launch his blade, but around his face were hearts and a sharpie marker drawn slogan of "TALA'S NUMBER ONE FAN!" The shirt had been cut up and it was pulled tight in the back so it was form fitting instead of loose.

She looked like an obsessed fan, and who would have thought she'd actually kiss Tala right there in front of everyone. Though as she started to shove her way through the crowd, saying goodbye to someone next to her that they couldn't quite see, and down the winding hallways, she raised a hand to her mouth and spit something into it. A piece of paper.

Everyone was staring in dumb shock as they replayed the scene from earlier. When Tala and Anna had been in the store room, lip locked, they weren't actually doing it to have a make out session. Tala's annoyed face at Bryan's words to him, hadn't been about them being interrupted, it was because they'd actually done what Michaels had asked them to do.

They'd come up with a relatively easy way to slip information to each other without looking overly conspicuous, while still maintaining the fact that Anna needed to be known (for some reason or other) as the Demolition Boy's number one fan.

It was a great trick of slight of hand prowess and quick action. Anna had pushed something into Tala's mouth, and when Tala had raised his hand to his lips, he'd replaced it with something else. Then he'd kissed her back, and the exchange had been complete.

It was predictably Johnny who burst out laughing at that. He couldn't help it, he was laughing so hard and so fast that it was clear he was obviously amused by the couple's well thought out plan. Clearly the two hadn't told anybody else about how they were going to do the exchange, because Bryan's stunned face had been worth it.

He looked at Tala and Anna like they were insane, and he was absolutely in awe of what had just happened. He had started laughing like a fool, and Boris's dumbfounded expression had been to much for the watchers to handle.


	16. Four Saints

**Windstar: **This chapter is the last chapter of this arc. Starting with chapter 16 to chapter 22 the "silent" arc I suppose you could call it will begin. We're getting a lot closer to present day, and starting with this chapter you'll see signs and words about the other teams and characters. Right now, I'm on chapter 24 so I can tell you with some assurance that we're seeing a lot of moments with the others real soon. This chapter is also one of the longest of the series so far, it's content being 8,124 words of pure informative and prepatory discussion. Everything in this is to prepare you for the next arc, and the one after the Silent Arc will be the second to last of this series. It's affectionatly called the "Present" arc (for obvious reasons).

I want to thank all the wonderful reviews I received, and I hope that my fantastic fans will continue to show me their support. This story wouldn't be here without you! For those of you who haven't seen it, there's a one-shot out that takes place six years after the world championships. It's a post OTT story, and it comes before the assumed sequel that I'm mapping out. If you're interested, go ahead and read it. As a warning way far in advance, the sequel will be vastly different then this, and it will probably be a lot shorter. This has been the longest running story I've written, it's over 350pgs long right now and it's a beast! I hope to have this finished before I go to college, and once there my schedule will let you know if there will actually be a sequel - my grades out weigh this unfortunately.

Thank you kindly once more, and please enjoy!

**Chapter Fifteen:**

Tala was resting back in a chair, his hands were hand cuffed to the arms, and he had a strange headset on his face, but it was obviously him. His red hair was poking out from the bottom of the headset, and with Boris in the room it was the only logical explanation.

What made everything all the more complicated worrisome though, was the fact that in Boris' hand was the obvious and striking appearance of Black Dranzer. The black and green beyblade was all but glowing in malice, and it was a picturesque vision of fear and danger for almost everyone in the room that was watching this scene.

There were various computers and technicians that were about the room, filing through paperwork and the like as they were tapping away on their computers. The strange contraption that Tala was hooked up to, and the screens that were around the room were clear enough.

Tyson had explained the virtual reality system he'd seen Kai working on at the Abbey, and this looked pretty damn close to it. The only difference...was that there was no other beyblade in the room, no visible launcher, except for Black Dranzer. Tala was sitting and not standing, his wrists cuffed to the arm rests, and his face was set in a grim line.

Everyone was watching with anticipation, they wanted to know what was going to happen. Even the mood on the screen seemed to point towards the fact that something was being waited for. There was a deep breath feeling...like the top of a rollercoaster just as it's rounding that last bend. Everyone knew that something _was _going to happen...but nobody knew just what it would feel or look like.

So they waited. They waited and waited, biding their time as they tried to figure out just what they were going to do next. Boris was moving now, his hands placing the beyblade not in Tala's hand, but rather in a strange box that was connected to the machine that Tala was sitting back in.

The date was clear. It was a little more then a year ago. Only about a eighteen months in the past to be exact. That meant it had to have been just after the second world championships. The boy was fifteen now, and if that mask was removed, he'd probably look exactly like the boy they all knew. At fourteen he'd looked close enough for them to recognize him. Yet at fifteen it would have been obvious.

Boris flicked his hand, commanding the start of the operation. Everyone flinched at his poor choice of words. They could all to easily remember the surgery that had happened only a few moments ago. The sight of Tala struggling to even stay upright afterwards.

He shouldn't have been in the tournament. It was just another cruel way for Boris to show everyone who was superior. Who was in charge. The computers were whirring to life, and images were flashing across the screens on the walls. Upon closer examination, it took a moment for everyone to figure out what was happening on those screens.

A door was just visible. It was simple in shape and appearance, and it didn't look very threatening. The screens seemed to be taking the perspective of Tala, it wavered and got closer and shifted as though looking through his eyes.

"Get through that door." Boris commanded loudly. "You have thirty minutes."

It seemed easy enough. Walk up to the door, open it. Walk through. Right? Wrong. For some reason, Tala just stood there. He stood there on the screens and didn't move. He didn't move a muscle. He just stood there.

In reality, his breathing was labored, and from the beeping and whirring from the various machines recording his vitals, he was under a great deal of stress. His fingers were gripping the arm rests of his chair tightly, and his teeth ground down on his bottom lip, biting it hard enough to draw blood.

Only a minute had passed, and yet it was clear that whatever it was that Tala was trying to do, was taking a great deal of stress and energy from him. Boris was growling angrily, not liking what he was seeing. He clearly had expected whatever it was they were doing to go a lot faster then this.

Yet it wasn't. It was taking a very long time.

After about twenty minutes, the video thankfully speeding up time because it didn't look like _anything _had happened in those twenty minutes, the door swung open quite randomly. Boris looked at it, mildly impressed. It didn't look like he'd expected Tala to be able to do anything after all this time.

Then just as the clock was about to strike the half hour mark, Tala appeared to have materialized on the other side of the door. He'd done what he'd been asked. Just as Boris was about to say something though, the teen let out a heart wrenching scream.

He howled with no restraint, his hand flying up, snapping the braces that were holding him down. He scratched at the headset, his body flailing. Several of the technicians flew forward, physically forcing his arms away from the contraption. Whether it was pain or fear, no one could quite tell, but he was screaming louder and louder, kicking out now that his hands were being restrained.

Someone was trying to do something on their computer, the others were yelling for him to hurry up, but Boris wasn't paying any of that any mind. His eyes were locked on the screens that had vanished from the door setting and had now begun to sport the image of a black phoenix that was lighting the world on fire.

The bird was cawing loudly, her wings flapping a blaze across everything, and through it all Tala's virtual form was assaulted by the darkness and the flames that were all encompassing. If that headset was what made him connect to whatever image was appearing on those screens, it was little wonder he was trying to get it off.

What was surprising though, was the fact that his skin was starting to show signs of burns on it. He screamed loudly, thrashing his head back, trying to escape to get away, to do anything. His mind was literally rejecting whatever it was being shown. He didn't want to see it and he didn't want to know it was there.

One of the doctors finally had enough of it though and undid the clasps that held the headset over the teen's eyes and face. He tugged it off before anyone could stop him. Blue eyes met the world and then suddenly with an eerie wailing of electronics, his body fell limp and motionless. His head tilted to the side and he was deadly stiff. The wailing continued...his heart had stopped.

"You idiot!" Boris shouted, purely enraged at the fact the man had done that. The medics were pulling him off the chair, setting the teen down on the ground. Someone was screaming for someone else to get a crash cart, they were trying to give him CPR. He wasn't moving, he just lay there, his eyes staring widely at the scene in front of him without really comprehending what was going on.

Oddly enough it was Boris who moved forward and threw something over the teen's eyes so he could no longer see the world that was surrounding him. When they finally got a pulse, he was kept that way, eyes blind to the world as he lay there silently for a long while.

The doctor who had been foolish enough to remove the headset, which had been causing all the problems to begin with, had been dragged away. Few really thought he was going to survive whatever it was that Boris had intended for him. The others were being ordered to leave the room, and after a few long moments, the two were the only ones left.

Tala's shuddering breaths filled the silence. He was shaking slightly, though what it was from no one was completely sure. Whatever had happened had been so random and so sudden that they didn't quite know what they were dealing with.

"What did you see?" Boris asked after a while, barely able to hide his eagerness. Tala didn't answer him, he just lay like that, his arms out stretched. He looked like he'd been nailed to a cross. He looked like he was dying.

He just had been.

His shudering breaths were all the reply Boris had received and it was the only reply that he seemed like he was going to get. The boy was to stunned and to shocked from whatever had just occurred to be able to formulate words. After a long while though, Tala finally managed to whisper something brokenly.

"M...naw...er...mather..." He breathed the words out, and they were slurred. Boris wrenched the cloth off the boy's face, and those blue eyes winced and closed tightly. He hadn't expected the sudden onslaught of light that was stabbing into his eyes.

"What did you say boy?" He hissed as he looked at the teenager, and they had been right – he looked exactly as he did in present time – his goggles shimmering with distaste.

"I'm...not...her master...." He managed, though it was strained and it obviously took a lot of effort on his part.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"She...said I'm not...her master."

"But you can still control her." It was a statement. One that didn't need an answer, but was given one. The red head nodded ever so slightly, one hand resting on his head. The place where he'd been implanted with some kind of device a year previously. "So what the hell does it matter if she thinks you're not her master?!"

"She...doesn't like me." Tala let out a quiet moan and he struggled to push himself upright.

"Oh boo hoo, a computer program doesn't like you. How terribly sad." Boris gripped him by the hair, shaking him roughly. The boy didn't even cry out, though it was clear he hadn't appreciated the actions.

"She attacks me when I use her." He muttered in response, ignoring the jibe.

"You've ben dealing with pain your entire life. You can deal with a little more." The man replied carelessly. He wasn't there to hold the red head's hand, he was there to get something out of him. The teen glowered in his direction.

"Then-" whatever he was going to say dissapeared as soon as the first word left his mouth. He snapped his lips shut and he held his tongue. Boris just raised an eyebrow at it. The teen had been about to argue with him, had been about to bite back, but he had restrained it at the last moment. He'd kept himself from saying anything.

"Then what?" The man asked as he pressed the boy a little harder. Blue eyes bore unflinchingly back at the man.

"Then I should not complain." He said the words tonelessly, but the purple haired basterd laughed, nodding his head in agreement.

"Very true...very true..." He took the teen and he started to bring him back towards the chair he'd been sitting in earlier. "That little fan girl that follows you around whenever we go out...the one with no concept of personal boundaries..."

"Sir?"

"What's her name?"

"I believe it was Anna sir. She was at that ball we went to several years ago that night I...decided to join this project."

"Ah yes, is that where she first met you? Infatuated ever since, huh?"

"It would seem so sir." Tala's face betrayed none of the emotions that he must have had during this conversation with his father. The man didn't seem to particularly be looking for anything though.

"I'm inviting her and several other members of your team's...fan club...for a tour at the Abbey."

"Sir...?"

"To keep appearances up of course. We can't have people thinking we're training you all like soldiers intent on taking over the world now can we?" He ruffled that red hair in a somewhat crude attempt at affection. Whatever it was, it was lost on the boy who had no desire to have anything to do with the man, let alone be touched in any way by him.

"No sir."

"What do you think about all of that?" The man asked, this time looking at him intently.

"I think that as long as they stay on a designated path...and have no interaction with the lower levels...it should be fine...sir."

"So you have no opinion on whether or not you agree that they should come...that she should come?"

"Why would I sir?" There wasn't even a trace of hesitation, it was instantaneous and it was the answer he was supposed to say.

"You don't care about her in the least? You don't care if she were to come here and see how you live?"

"If it keeps the outside from seeing us as enemies...and it keeps you as the director of this Abbey, then I have no thought other then to agree with what you say. I believe in your decisions to always be correct. You are my director after all." He didn't even lower his gaze, his voice was soft and it was in just the right way of going about things. Boris laughed, nodding his head as he looked at his son.

"You have no cares about anything do you?"

"I care only for the Abbey." It was such a brainwashed statement, and it should have pleased Boris, but instead it made him strike the teen. The boy didn't fall, but already cut lip had started to bleed some more, gushing down his face in a steady flow. He did nothing to try to staunch the bleeding.

"You do have fears though. What has this Abbey ever done for you? What have you ever gotten from this place that makes you so loyal? Nothing but pain and suffering. There has been nothing to make you reply the way you do. So what is it _Tala. _What makes you want to listen to whatever I have to say? Is it fear? Are you scared of me? Scared of the pain I can give you? You could fight...you could probably make it out of here if you fought. Why haven't you?"

Tala's blue eyes looked at him without any emotion in them. There was no worry or sadness. There was no acceptance or grim awareness. There was nothing. He simply pierced the man with a dark gaze that was blank and without any feeling.

"I know nothing else. This is the life I live...have chosen. You are my leader...what you say is what I will follow."

"And if I told you to carve out the hearts of Kutznetsov, Papov and Brevda?"

"Then they have lived out their usefulness to your cause."

"I wonder..."

"Sir?"

"What would your mother have to say if she could hear you now...talking about your friends that way? This blind faithful obedience." Boris leaned in close. "One of these days...I will kill you."

"Then I will die." Was all he replied, and Boris laughed at that.

"Get out of here...the fan club should be here some time next week...and you have a meeting before then."

"Sir!" He saluted, and then started towards the door.

He had managed to step through it and take a breath. His eyes slipping closed as he leaned against the nearest wall. He was exhausted. He didn't feel up to par at all, and he was more then hoping he be able to get a break some times soon.

He didn't really have much luck. The watchers saw him before Tala had, that much was obvious. He was leaning against the opposite wall, not to far away, but far enough where the redhead hadn't seen him immediately after walking out of the door. He had an attempt at an impassive look on his face, but his eyes betrayed his ire.

He wasn't happy.

"I get the fact that you have to lie to get things done around here...but you don't have to lie so convincingly." Blue eyes snapped open and stared at the blonde that was looking straight at him. The burly teen was angry, and he had a right to be. Especially if he had heard everything...and he knew what had happened in that room.

Boris was still in there, and Tala scowled at the blonde before moving towards him and starting down the hall. Spencer followed him, his steps heavy with anger and his eyes flashing murderously. It was a strange state for the blonde to be in. He was usually the peace keeper between them. Bryan was the one who usually jumped in head first and was ready to kill with little incentive.

Ian didn't really get involved. He stayed in the background more often then not, and he tried not to deal with what the others were up to. He did his job, and he cared for his friends, but he didn't get involved if there was a fight. He left that for Bryan or Kai to take care of.

Kai was another loose cannon. He did what he wanted to do, when he wanted to, and he didn't take no for an answer. He was arrogant as all get out, and he had enough training and experience beneath his belt to let him be that way. Out of everyone if someone was going to pick a fight with Tala though, Kai was the one that could at least come out of it unscathed. None of the others ever really got involved.

"So when were you going to tell us that Boris was having you play with Black Dranzer? Or are you so much in love with the man now that you'd do anything he said regardless of your loyalties to others." To the ISA for instance.

Tala glared at him, refusing to answer. Maybe he didn't know what to say. Maybe he didn't know how to word it. It didn't matter though. At the end of the day, he didn't answer and that was probably because he was caught with his pants down and even he could be surprised at times.

"What was it that you said...oh right. You'd cut out our hearts if we lost our usefulness to the Abbey. You really have turned to the dark side haven't you? Are you going to burn down the Abbey too? Start a massacre? Go psycho on us? Or maybe you already have-"

He didn't get to finish his thought, Tala's hand was at his throat, shoving him up against the wall, his blue eyes shimmering with anger and ill concealed rage. He was irate. Absolutely irate. He looked like he was actually going to kill Spencer right then and there, but he didn't. He just held him in place, and Spencer stared at him with equal eyes of burning ire.

"You have no idea what you're talking about Brevda."

"Oh so we're going by last names then are we, _Ivanov_? Or is it Balkov now?" He'd been expecting the punch, and he broke Tala's choke hold just in time to avoid it and land one of his own on the redhead's abdomen. That in itself was surprising, usually the captain didn't get hit that easily. It had to have been because of how out of it he was from practically dieing earlier. Spencer didn't let him have time to react though, he caught him in the nose and without caring if he broke it or not, he slammed the younger boy down onto his back.

Blood spurted from the wound, and Tala hissed, his teeth baring like fangs as he glared hatefully at his so called friend. He kicked out, attempting to sweep the blonde off his feet, but again – Spencer knew how Tala fought to well to fall for that. He pinned the redhead down, straddling him and forcing his hands onto the ground.

It didn't matter that they were in the hallway or that anyone could be watching, right now he wanted to beat the piss out of the little idiot in front of him, and he had a decade of pent up frustration to take out on him for every little thing in the past Tala had done wrong to tick him off.

He punched the boy clear in the jaw, and even though he'd let up on one of his hands, Tala hadn't moved to knock the other off or to even block or evade the hit. He just lay there. Spencer punched him again, and a third time for good measure. He'd noticed by now that his friend had ceased struggling, but he hit him a forth time just because he needed to get the strike out. Then he sat there, fists covered in the younger teen's blood and panting heavily.

"You done yet?" Tala asked, speaking rather calmly considering he'd just gotten pummeled. Another punch socked him clear in the jaw.

"Now I am." The last one had just been because the cheeky comment had pissed him off even more. Spencer sighed though, and stood up, holding a hand out to help the other to his feet. Tala took it, one hand going to his face where his fingers ghosted over his nose to see if it was broken. It didn't seem to be though, more banged up then broken, and he wiped the blood that was dripping in his mouth away.

"Did you have to hit me that hard? You knocked one of my molars loose you ass." He reached into his mouth and he winced as he pulled the bone free. "These don't grow back you know." He growled as he spit a glob of blood onto the ground and brandished his tooth like a wand.

"I'm sure your little fan girl would love to kiss it and make it better." Spencer mumbled, though he did look slightly sorry that he'd knocked his tooth out.

"Whatever. Let this be known-" He spit another glob of blood. "As the day that you finally got on up on me."

"Only because you let me....come on. The people at the infirmary can fix your tooth problem."

"You done being pissed off at me?"

"Yeah. For now. You gonna tell the others what you've been doing behind our backs?"

"I suppose I'll have to."

"How long have you been meeting up with Boris down here?" Spencer motioned back the way they'd come.

"Just over a year or so."

"What?!"

"Maybe two...whenever that party with Lord Hiwatari and his dip shit grandson was."

"That was practically two years ago!" Spencer hissed furiously.

"If you're going to hit me again, do it on the other side of my face." Was all the redhead said as he held up his tooth once more.

"Jesus Tala, what's wrong with you? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what? That I was seeing if I could even control Black Dranzer? What was there to tell? I can't."

"You told Boris-"

"I can make it listen to me for half an hour. That's it. After that I can't make it do anything. I could probably beybattle with it if I really had to, but the actually server I can't do jack with."

"What server?" Tala froze. His eyes glancing over to the blonde with a look that clearly showed that he had said more then he'd meant to.

"Forget it Spencer." He spat out another thing of blood. "Don't worry about it."

They walked on in silence, passing Mikhail in the hall who gave out a few hoots of laughter at the sight of Tala's rather bloody and bruised face. Bryan was with him, and he looked dumbfounded at the sight of his friend. He turned to Mikhail and told him to shut up before looking at Spencer questioningly. Spencer just held up his still blood stained hand as though to show that he was the one that had done it, and Bryan looked torn from appearing impressed or worried. The blonde just shook his head and motioned for the other to kep on going. Tala had walked right on by, ignorant of the entire exchange.

When the scene changed, they were in the ISA's headquarters. Anna was talking to Tala, her fingers ghosting along his bruised face while he kept trying to assure her that he was fine. She wanted to know what had happened, but all he would say was that he got attacked by a killer whale and he knew better then to play with his fish for next time. She glanced over to Spencer questioningly, but the other looked away without commenting.

Kai was chortling with laughter, and clapped Spencer on the back, telling him that someone needed to beat the pus out of his brother to knock him off his pedestal every once and a while. Anna glared at him, clearly not impressed, but the redhead just hugged her and told her to stop being such a worry wart.

"Well now...is there anything anyone wants to say before we begin?" Once more Michaels was giving Tala that knowing look, only this time Spencer had caught it and he was sending it straight towards the redhead as well.

Slightly less then subtle all the others caught on, looking at him in confusion. They wanted to know whatever it was the others thought needed to be brought up, and Tala sighed heavily. He ran a hand through his hair for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Yeah, I have something to say." He paused only for a minute before continuing. "Black Dranzer is not meant to be a bit beast." At the others startled looks, and Spencer's clear confusion as to where he was going with this, he went on. "A couple of years ago I told Boris that I'd be willing to blade with Black Dranzer."

"_What the fuck did you just say?" _Bryan hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously. The others looked completely stunned, Spencer and Michaels didn't look to surprised at the news. Yet oddly enough, Kai didn't seem too surprised with it either. He just nodded and motioned for him to continue when their eyes met.

"I thought, like everyone else, that Black Dranzer's purpose was that of a beyblade. An extremely powerful one that could absorb other bit beasts into it and use them on command. Almost like a general in the army, Black Dranzer was supposed to be able to control any other bey-spirit it came into contact with.

"In all actuality though, that's only half of its importance. Black Dranzer is a computer program. It was made on a computer, and because of that it has the personality of a computer. If someone can control it, or knows how to control it, then they can control the system itself. The bit-beast is connected to a mainframe set up, and from there that set up is attached to the beyblader. That being said, the beyblader is then in control of a virtual computer world.

"Through the connections and with Black Dranzer as the operating system, it becomes the greatest hacking tool in the history of computers. Black Dranzer doesn't change when it's in computers. It has the same means of operating. It controls everything it comes in contact with. So with Black Dranzer acting as a catalyst, whoever controls the system can control whatever it breaks into.

"The whole thing is a visual process, a firewall looks like a fiery wall of data. A closed door looks like a closed door. Black Dranzer makes it visible to you so that you can see what it is you're doing. From there you can break through codes and hack into databases on the fly.

"Controlling the world by attacking each and every city one by one would take forever, Boris doesn't want to do that. He wants an immediate fix on everything. He wants an end date. So, he made Black Dranzer. As a hacking program, the BD Server can break into anything. All it needs is an operator that can deal with the negative feedback that comes out of it.

"By using the BD Server, he can break into everything. Banks, government files, missel launch codes, access to the location of nuclear war heads. Anything. Over night he could have the entire world's electronic databases under his control, and within a matter of minutes whole countries would be shutting down. All the satalites orbiting the world could come crashing down onto earth, all the bombs that are located everywhere could be set off. Whole armies would be sent false orders that could make dozens of wars start over night. Power plants could experience melt downs. Suicides would increase exponentially, people would start having break downs. In short. It would be chaos.

"During that chaos, he would be the only one who could bring order to it, because he'd be the only one with the BD Server that could stop it. He'd be the only one with the ability to stop it. His armies of beybladers could go to each town – fixing or destroying everything while the hysteria grew. In just one week the whole world would have crippled to the point where they'd have to give in. It would be the end of everything, and he'd be in charge."

Everyone was staring at him, transfixed and horrified by what they were hearing. It was so simple. So completely simple. If there was a program that was powerful enough to do something of that magnitude...then it was obvious how bad the chaos would get. In the past it had just been assumed that a military strike would take place on the people of earth using Bit-Beasts.

It wasn't to far from the truth, but it was clear that this plan had been thought out a great deal more then the ISA had given Boris credit. The others couldn't blame Tala for keeping his exploits a secret until now. If he'd told them...maybe he wouldn't have gotten as far into the situation that he had fallen to. Maybe he wouldn't have learned all the things that he found out.

Michaels was struggling to find the words to say, if there was something to this magnitude being built...then they had a problem, and a big one at that. Every country in the world could be ready to fall to pieces and every country had the potential to become nothing but a group of blathering idiots. He tried to keep himself focused. He needed to breathe. He needed to keep his missions in line. Now they had to move quickly. It was becoming increasingly obvious that at the next world championships, when all of the Abbey would be outside watching the tournament, they would have to act. They couldn't wait much longer then this.

"Can you control the BD Server?" Kai asked simply enough, though he looked like he already knew the answer.

"Yes." Spencer whirled on him.

"You told me-"

"_We _have spies in that place Spencer, what makes you think that Boris doesn't either? There are more cameras there then we know what to do with and you thought I was actually going to tell you something that could ruin everything? If that man knows I can control it, do you have any idea how short the deadline to stop him becomes? Right now they're still trying to find a way to use that thing, and once they do have a way of using it, there's going to be nothing to stop them from starting their Doomsday March."

"Your heart stopped, you flipped out-"

"Black Dranzer listens to the inner most desires of whoever is using it." Kai explained shortly. All eyes turned to him. "To control Black Dranzer, you need to have a goal in mind, and that goal will be achieved so long as you do it Black Dranzer's way. My guess...is that the first time you started using the BD Server, you told it your goal, and it accepted it. It does it's thing and lets you keep looking like you're doing better, and then attacks you in the end. It gets what it wants out of it, since you're not the master that it wants...and you get what you want out of it."

"Pretty much." Luka nodded, confirming his brother's belief.

"So what's the plan...how do we deal with this thing?" Ian asked as he looked between the two siblings.

"Right now, Boris is at a stand still. He doesn't want to get Kai in until I prove incapable of continuing to use the Server. So he's dependant on my progress."

"We need to get the Server for ourselves before we think about anything else." Michaels announced simply enough. The door opened and everyone looked up. Voltaire and two other men, who the watchers recognized as Mr. Dickenson and this Christopher fellow from the hospital.

"Who the hell are you?" Kai snapped, as he looked at the two people coldly. Mr. Dickenson laughed lightly at that, shaking his head.

"You never were one for surprise greetings were you my boy?" Dickenson said simply as he walked in, Christopher following him wordlessly.

"I'm not your boy." Was all he said as he continued to glare in their general direction.

"Yes, yes. This is Christopher Hughes, he's the leader of the BBASS and he's been in frequent correspondence with Mr. Michaels here."

"We've never met face to face, but you've been a member of our squadron for quite some time, it's nice to meet you." Christopher walked in, holding his hand out in their general direction, but nobody moved to take it. Even Anna hadn't moved. Their faces were all guarded and distrusting.

"These kids don't shake hands Hughes." Voltaire supplied, his eyes glittering with amusement.

"Grandfather. Back from Japan?" Kai addressed the man simply enough, disregarding Chris for the moment.

"Yes, I had to go collect these two. They've been wanting to meet you all face to face for quite some time now."

"I don't get it. We all know we've been apart of the BBASS too, but why is it that we only meet with the ISA on a regular basis?" Ian asked as he looked at Chris skeptically.

"The BBASS has been taking the information that the ISA has been sending us and we've been putting it into practical form. For everything you all do, the BBASS has been sending around researchers and developers everywhere to match your information. We've been taking it from a beyblading point of view though where the ISA takes it from a security point of view. We've been looking for all the ties in the beyblading world that could help counter act anything Balkov has dished out." Christopher explained simply enough, retracting his hand once he realized they weren't going to take it.

"Thank you for joining us here today...gentlemen." Michaels said as he motioned for them to step inside and close the door. Anna's hand slipped into Tala's, and the two made eye contact for a brief moment before he gave it a squeeze. As Michaels started to fill the new comers in on the information they'd just heard, the teenagers were looking at each other, trying to figure out what their next plan was going to be.

Logically, Michaels was right. They needed to get a version of the BD Server for themselves. They needed to be able to combat anything that Boris threw at them. The good news was that only two people in the world could actually use the Server, and both of them were on their side.

The bad news was that until further notice, one of them was still trapped in the Abbey under Boris' thumb. That could always prove complicated, especially if Boris was ever to find out just how much he was being duped with everything. It could prove very complicated. That being said...there wasn't a chance in hell that anybody was going to be able to steal the information needed to create a new BD Server in the ISA. That place was to carefully guarded and it was to risky to have any of the Demolition Boys attempt the feet. If they were caught...all four of them would be liable to be killed. They wouldn't take any chances with _that _information.

That left only Anna or Kai. Kai wouldn't be good because that could be led back to Voltaire...and Anna...nobody wanted to think about sending Anna into the Abbey. Especially not when the penalty for failure was death...and probably a long painful one.

The problem was...Anna was already going to the Abbey. She would be there for the tour that the fan girls were going on. She would be in the perfect position to sneak off and get the information. Most of the people would be distracted...and there was a good chance that she could manage to sneak in and out without detection. Especially since there would be the other fans milling about. Boris wouldn't hurt her if he knew that someone could easily walk in and see her.

So there it was...Anna was going into the Abbey...and she was going to have to steal the most valuable information yet right out from under the noses of the man who would want nothing more then to just end her life without even thinking about it.

"Now that that's taken care of...Anna...I've asked Voltaire to bring these two here for a reason, please let them know what you're findings are?"

"You've got findings?" Tala teased as he winked in her direction.

"I've got findings." She grinned back, walking over to the board, she picked up a piece of chalk and started to write a few names on the board. "So, I was given a mission a while back to find out about bit beasts, and how these bit beasts could work to Boris's advantage or disadvantage. I want to take a moment and point out four that I've done some research on that are supposed to be the most powerful."

"Oh goody, is this where our egos get stroked?" Bryan asked as his fingers ran over his own beyblade.

"Sorry Bry, you don't." At Bryan's shocked face, the others laughed energetically. Tala just nodded.

"All our bitbeasts were man made. None of ours should work." He explained softly.

"Right. While you all have extremely powerful bitbeasts, yours are just babies. They were created less then two decades ago, and in the grand scheme of things that's very young. Even though Seaborg was created from a whale fossil, it's not one of the four sacred spirits, or rather, the four completely pure spirits that are left." Anna started to write on the board as she spoke.

"What about Dranzer?" Tala questioned.

"Well there in lies the rub. Dranzer just happens to be one of the four I mentioned earlier. Japanese and Chinese, and even in general you could say Asian lore talks about four sacred gods. In Japan, Suzaku the fire bird, or in China, Zhū Què, Dranzer takes after those two likenesses. If you follow legends, there is also Qīng Lóng the blue dragon (or Seiryuu in Japan), Bái Hǔ (or Byakko) the white tiger, and lastly Xuán Wǔ (or Genbu) the black tortise.

"Now, these four spirits, they show up all over the Asian world. In Vietnam they're called the four saint beasts, in Korea they have their own names for them. Because of this, I took a closer look around. Not many people have phoenixes in their back yards they can turn into bit beasts. Sorry Luka, Dranzer really isn't part chicken."

"Damn." He sighed heavily and looked rather disappointed at the news.

"Told you." Kai teased, ducking the swat that went towards his head.

"Moving on." She stared their bantering into silence, and the looked up innocently at her. "I've tracked down the three other spirits. Seiryuu found itself in Japan, Bái Hǔ in China, and Xuán Wǔ is in America."

"Well talk about broad, that only cuts us down to around a billion people to find the bitbeasts in." Bryan was clearly unconvinced. Though to the watchers, this information was very interesting. They all had just gotten used to their bitbeasts, they never actually thought much about the history of their bitbeasts or where they'd come from. They'd always just...had them...

"Alright, how about this, the Granger family in Tokyo Japan, the White Tiger Village in the sìdà fójiào míngshān, the Tate family in New York, New York, and Kai Hiwatari aout four feet in front of me and two feet to the left – probably in his right pocket. That specific enough for you Bry?" Suddenly the boy had nothing left to say.

"Left pocket." Kai intoned, and she scoffed at his cocky grin.

"Why'd it have to be you is all I want to know, you've got enough of an ego without adding 'Master of the Sacred Spirit of Fire' to the list."

"There goes my day job, I'll just take over that for now."

"Anyway, these four spirits are the only ones that have appeared thus far that have any cultural information regarding them. Religion wise, they're the only ones that have lore associated with them that we know of so far."

"There has to be more information on this." spoke up for the first time, examining the words and the stories that had been written on the board. "What would happen if the four met up?"

"Who can say? As far as I know, Seiryuu hasn't awakened yet, and the other two haven't really been used for decades now. Bái Hǔ used to be used to protect the village it resides in during wars until it eventually turns into a bitbeast that's inherited by the village chief's heirs as time goes on, but it hasn't really been awakened or past down from the current chief. No new news on the Tates. Last I checked with them it seemed like their family was splitting up, though I believe the bitbeast has been passed down to Max – their son."

"I'm going to look into these children...perhaps the four of these bitbeasts could be enough to tip the balance of these proceedings to our power."

"What do you mean? We're going to run this course till the end and then we're going to just catch Bors." Tala glanced over towards the older man, a frown on his features.

"We've been thinking about the information that you've given us, and it seems that the Abbey is almost completely emptied during the World Tournaments...that being the case, we believe by the next World Championships, we should be able to nail Boris to his cross." Michaels explained quickly enough.

"So you're looking for a team that can beat us?" Ian asked curiously.

"Yes, in a sense."

"Good luck." Spencer snorted, shaking his head.

"You may have to flub a few rounds." The boys looked at him with stunned expressions on their faces.

"You want us to lose?"

"What are you kidding?" Bryan looked like someone had just committed a scandal. He looked positively horrified.

"No one's going to beat you in a fair match, any of you, that much you've proven time and again. That being the case, you're going to have to lose."

"Why can't we just win? You can still do what you want to do, and we can still win." Tala asked softly, not liking the idea of losing.

"Because if everything goes wrong and we need more time, there's a ceremony for handing over the trophy that takes place. It would be there that we would have to take immediate action. At this point, if all else fails...we've discussed removing you completely from the Abbey."

"What did you say?" All eyes were pinned on the man, none believing what they were hearing. He sighed heavily.

"For nearly six years, you kids have been dealing with that place under our orders. If we go through with this, and none of the charges stick...then Im taking you all out before this gets worse, or one of you ends up dead."

"We're going to be killed if we loose. You realized that right? He's not just going to let us get away with losing, and losing on purpose? Are you crazy? If we lost on purpose do you realize how quickly he'd be able to tell that? Not even the Hazards can take us in a fair fight anymore, that's why we displaced them. The Maims aren't even close to being at our standard. If you make us lose on purpose we're going to be killed anyway. We might as well just win."

"I'd have to agree with Michaels on this one boys. The fact remains, that should anything happen to you – it would be after the World Champtionships. Boris wouldn't risk someone noticing that you all aren't there when they hand the trophy over. He is far to smart to let someone catch him like that." Voltaire spoke up at long last, his eyes looking over the children.

"I still don't get why we have to lose." Bryan muttered, clearly agitated.

"It won't be hard to convince Boris, I think, that the loss was because you were outclassed. Especially if these four bitbeasts make up the team that does it." Mr. Dickenson was musing, but at the stricken looks on the kids faces, he frowned.

"Four? You expect me to join up with these brats from wherever?" Kai hissed, his arms folding over his chest.

"Kai's a member of our team. He's not joining up with some no name punks who just happen to have inherited some nifty toys." Luka was staring defiantly at the men before them, and the others had his back. There was to much loyalty between them to consider any other plan.

"You're also forgettting that if I do join up with this team, then Grandfather's going to be put in the spot light concerning the fact that...oh, I don't know...I disobeyed him? I'm helping to defeat them?"

"I understand these aren't popular options..."

"Popular options, listen to yourself! And just what if these kids prove to be absolute no talents. I'm not going to be covering their backs, and if you think that Boris won't notice the utter and complete failure on their parts to newbies, you're sadly mistaken!"

"Look, everyone just needs to calm down for a moment alright, we don't even know if this is going to happen, and we still need to get Black Dranzer out of the Abbey somehow, so why don't we just take a breath and stop getting so frustrated." Anna was trying to be the voice of reason, but the boys were to pissed off to care.

Fortunately though, the adults did and they nodded slightly to her attempt at calming down the situation that was quickly starting to grow out of control. As the screen faded though, there was a brief moment where the watchers realized that their lives had been planned out for them because of the research Anna had done and the revelations she'd released that day. For over a year they had been marching the paths that these people had set out for them to take, and it all came down to the fact that they were supposed to, destined, to lose.

The only real question now was, if that was the case, why on Earth would Kai lose to Spencer who should have been a cake walk for him to defeat?


	17. Howl

**Windstar:** Man...this chapter is one of the longest of this series, and for good reason. At fourteen pages it is a very depressing and dark beginning into this part of their lives. For citing purposes, there is a poem in this chapter, and also in the next written by Allen Ginsburg. You can read it online if you so choose, it's called Howl and it is a very dark beat poem written a few decades ago. Once again, you can read it online if you like.

Just a warning, this chapter has some very dark moments and it is one of the most depressing of the whole story. I can promise that from here on out things will not be like this again, and I've gotten pretty far in this. So sit tight, this and the next chapter will be the last of this theme. I hope you all enjoyed, and Happy Birthday America! (I know I'm a bit late, but I was celebrating my own fourth of July where things like computers, internet, and telephone are jokes....)

I hope you all enjoy, and please review and tell me what you think. I'd really love to hear your opinion!

**Chapter Sixteen: **

Tala's breath hitched. The girl in front of him froze. Their eyes took each other in, and in that moment he hesitated. His cobalt eyes widening for a second. He looked stunned to see her. He should have been, after all he hadn't known that she'd be there. He had watched her through the entire tour. She'd been giggly and giddy and acted just like a little school girl. She had been wearing purple extensions and a jacket that said "Tala's!" on the back. In his opinion she looked absolutely ridiculous, and she'd never left them once. He didn't know how she could have gotten the information that she'd been supposed to get with her acting so silly, but he supposed she must have done it somehow. She'd left with a wink and a smile.

Now there she was, and he realized that she _hadn't _gotten the information earlier. She had broken in later on, and she had somehow gotten to the files without being found out before then. There she was standing in front of him, their eyes meeting and he felt himself go numb. She spun while he was frozen stiff, running as hard and as fast as she possibly could. Her pack weighing her down as she sprinted full speed ahead. The redhead was hot on her heels soon afterwords though. His eyes narrowed dangerously as his face set with determination.

Anna had not a hope in the world of out running her partner. He was too fast, and she was already inhibited by her load. She had a backpack on...a backpack that he knew was full of the files on how to create the BD Server. Full of files on how to make the thing that was as haunting and deadly as anything else in this place. He raised his gun and glared at her. She cut the corner just as he fired, missing her and allowing her to get a few more extra feet on him as he skidded around the corner and tried to steady himself.

His beyblade launcher had always been shaped like a pistol. Ever since he had taken a liking to the weapon, he had always had it with him, but it had recently been converted into a real gun that only he and the guards at the Abbey knew how to operate. It was tricky, and the system wasn't perfect, but it made things easier in the long run considering the fact that now there was practically no trace at all of him ever firing a gun at the people he was being sent to kill.

"Stop!" He hissed furiously. "Thief!" She glowered. He really was going to hunt her down and catch her. He wasn't bluffing. Not in this Abbey with the cameras everywhere. He was always the perfect little sneak. He was an Oscar winning actor. He could outwit anyone and make them believe anything if he wanted them too, and in that moment he wanted everyone to believe that he was going to catch her and bring her in. He wanted everyone to see him chase her down – even if it meant that he actually was going to do it.

One thing she thanked him for though, was the fact that he hadn't launched Wolborg. The bitbeast would have easily been able to shoot ahead of her and trip her up long enough for him to catch her, yet he didn't. He was giving her that one window of opportunity to escape. If she could make it to the other side…she would be safe. If she could out run him, she'd be able to be free. If not…she was dead, and they both knew it.

The watchers couldn't believe that Tala was actually shouting at her. He didn't have a choice – even they knew that. Anna had been caught stealing valuable data, and he was responsible for hunting her down as he was the first one on the scene. Failure meant death. Anna was gasping for breath, her heart thundering in her ears. Another bullet fired, but once more she was turning and it missed her.

Her pretty face was covered with a thin sheen of sweat, her hair flying back in a tangled mess. She looked awful, and it was only going to get worse. She had never been a truly athletic person, and the Demolition Boys had taken great pride in pummeling her every chance they got. It wasn't meant to be malicious, but that was the way things were. She was not meant for the life that they had all chosen. She was meant in the lab, with her equipment and her computer, and her fingers fiddling with some new gadget or other.

She wasn't athletic, which is why it was eternally stupid of her to even consider accepting this mission. She was cursing under her breath, and it was for good reason. She shouldn't have been assigned this task. It was going to get her killed, and get everyone no where. She wondered faintly just who it was that was going to kill her, and just as she thought that, Ian stepped in front of her. He raised his own gun straight at her exposed body. She came to a stumbling halt. Tala still rushing behind her, Ian right before her. Face set in determination though, she swung her bag around. Ian fired, the bag knocking into his hand and deflecting the shot just enough for her to keep running. Tala yelped and cursed about something behind her, but she didn't appear to have noticed that her action had caused Ian's bullet to fly into his arm. Blood was sweeping down his white sleeve, but it wasn't too bad as he raised that same arm up to fire once more at the girl.

He didn't press the trigger though. Bryan had appeared, his hands grabbing her arms and holding her stationary as Spencer slammed the butt of his launcher shot gun against her head. She crumpled like a ton of bricks, fainting into Bryan's hold. The boys shared a brief and grim glance at each other before sighing heavily and beginning to go about their standard operating procedure.

Guards had started to appear and were taking Anna away. Her body limp and simply being dragged since no one cared to carry her. Tala kept his face stony, no emotion played on his features. He didn't even appear to be worried in the least. The watchers though, had come to know that even the stony face of Tala betrayed emotions if one cared to look.

Luka was still in that boy. He was still in that body and he was still vulnerable to emotions. Luka was in love with Anna. He cared about her, and he wanted to continue to see her. Every one of the misfit _family _members had known of their relationship.

Bryan had softly warned him that it wasn't a good idea once. He had told him that it was only going to get both of them into more trouble then it was worth. Boris would find out, and when he did, there was going to be hell to pay. Tala had laughed though. He had shook his head even as his stony eyes had shown that he understood the message.

"The day Boris finds out about Anna, is the day he finds out about all of this." Tala had said. He'd said that, motioning around to the ISA headquarters they'd been at at the time. It didn't make anything better though. Anna had been found out.

She had been caught. Someone had sent her into the Abbey to steal documents that the Demolition Boys couldn't retrieve. Now she facing her death and it was all their fault. Tala had shot at her, he had hunted her down, but he hadn't done what he should have done. He hadn't tripped her with his blade and then apprehended her. He'd let her run. Even stony faced and with no apparent emotion, Tala had given her the chance to gain her freedom, and she'd failed.

Now she was going to die. That wasn't even a question. She was going to die, and Tala could feel his heart breaking. His hands were twitching. He couldn't keep himself motionless. He cocked his gun, took a bullet out, placed the safety on, took out the clip, placed the bullet back in, and repeated. He repeated the action so many times that it was like a trance.

Luka was in there. He was in Tala, and he was shaking with fright. Tala was fidgeting with his gun as his way of dealing with his worry. Outwardly nothing looked as though there was anything at all bothering him, but it was the truth. Luka was losing his cool, and it was showing with Tala's constant fidgeting.

"Ivanov, Papov, Kutznetsov, Brevda, I want you with the prisoner in the main hall." Boris's voice echoed loudly through the Abbey's speaker system. He sounded annoyed and frustrated, and those two were never a good combination. Tala nodded more to himself then anything else. He knew that this was it. He was going to have to witness the girl's murder, and he was going to have to _like _it.

He took a shuddering step forward, Bryan's hand touching his shoulder. It was everything that he needed at that moment. Tala was an inch from his breaking point. The façade would have to continue though, and with Bryan as his anchor to the real world, Tala walked forward with a stony face and with blank eye.

The watchers wondered if Kai was talking to Anna through their comm.-link system. In the past, they'd always had some way of talking to each other. The last time it had been through cell phone messages...but even before that. During that mission that had gone so horribly wrong, they had spoken to each other through intel connections. So...was he there? Was he raising hell in trying to rescue her? What could he do even if he somehow did manage to get there on time? Then he would be a target. Boris would find out about everything. Kai wouldn't have to say anything at all, Boris would know because Voltaire was the boy's grandfather. Boris would find out. Kai couldn't help. She was on her own, and she was going to die.

They walked slowly, but not leisurely. They moved with the grace that they had always had. They didn't betray their emotions. They had none after all. None except for the masks that Boris expected them to wear. Wear them they did too. They were nothing but the soldiers that Boris had always wanted, and when they walked towards the main entrance, they kept themselves that way. Anna meant nothing to them. They didn't know her after all. They didn't know who she was. They didn't know what she was doing in the Abbey. They didn't know anything. All they knew was that she was a thief.

That was all they were supposed to know.

When they arrived outside, the arches of the Abbey shielded everything that was taking place from prying eyes. Anna was just visible in the shadows. Her eyes were blinking blearily, and her teeth chattered in the cold. Her jacket and shirt had been removed; her black sports bra was the only thing that was hiding herself from the leering gazes of the men around her.

Spencer frowned heavily. "Why are we doing this outside instead of in an interrogation room?" The blonde muttered as he observed the scene. There were too many things that could go wrong here, and even if the thought was a sick one considering his true loyalties, it was a valid one.

"Why make a mess on our tiles when the ground grows better under the watering of fresh blood?" Boris cackled from in front of them. It took all of their will power to not say anything and to just nod. They couldn't say anything. They had to agree. That was life.

Tala couldn't restrain the possessive growl that came low in his throat when he saw someone reach to remove her pants. Bryan clapped his shoulder hard, a warning. They couldn't say anything. Regardless of how awful this situation was. Boris interpreted the growl the wrong way though. He laughed and looked at his student with favor.

"Yes…this little slut is our thief." He commented as though it were something as simple as the whether. The unknown man was starting to unbuckle the button on her hips, and Anna glared at him hatefully before kicking out, catching him between the legs. He howled in pain, and she was roughly wrenched back by her hair. A hard strike landed across her face. To her credit she didn't even flinch, instead she just glared at anyone who even thought of removing her last true form of modesty.

"Leave them." Boris ordered, waving his hand impatiently. "It won't matter if those remain, they're not something anyone here could use anyway." She snorted, but didn't reply. The Demolition Boys stood at attention before the scene, waiting for what horrors were sure to haunt them for years to come. She glanced at them briefly, before looking away. She couldn't look to long. She couldn't appear to care. "So my pet…how is my little Tala's _number one fan?_" She scowled at him. "I wasn't under the impression that the labs were part of your tour."

"You're a bastard." She spat hatefully. She was going to die anyway, might as well get it off her chest. "And you're going to hell for this! Just you wait, you're going to-" A hand caught her by the throat, strangling her. She coughed in surprise. Tala's eyes twitched ever so slightly.

"Now now…those aren't very nice things to say to someone that you've been caught stealing from." Boris laughed. Her face was turning red, her eyes starting to water as pressure was building up in them. She coughed feebly. The man didn't seem to care. "Tala." The redhead stepped forward on command. He didn't even seem to be taking note that his body was moving it had been so accustomed to answering Boris' orders. "She certainly has got quite the tongue on her now doesn't she?" The man asked as he looked at his apprentice. The girl was seeing black dots on her line of vision. She couldn't even think right it seemed.

"Yes sir." Tala replied tonelessly. He didn't hold a shred of pity or remorse in his voice. He only held the harsh contempt of someone born and raised in the Abbey. The perfect actor.

"What do you think we should do with it?" The watchers were horrified. The man wasn't seriously going to ask _Tala _what to do with her was he? He wasn't going to make Tala have to be the one to consider her fate….he couldn't. That was too cruel. Too cruel!

"Cut it out sir." Tala replied instinctively. Boris laughed merrily, clearly enjoying Tala's responses. He released Anna just as it looked like she was no longer going to be able to last another minute.

"Quite the response my boy." He reached up, and Tala remained motionless as his so called father touched his face lightly. He stared straight ahead. His eyes never once falling to look at the girl he loved.

"Dead men…or women...tell no tales." The redhead went on. Casually looking at his master. "Sir."

Boris nodded. He stood up tall and straight and he placed his arm around Tala's shoulders in what looked like an attempt at camaraderie. Tala didn't seem to take any note of it. He didn't seem to even pay attention as the man continued speaking. Yet with everything that was said, the boy responded instantly and in just the right manner.

The perfect actor.

"Well my dear…I suppose this is the end then." Boris smirked down at the girl. "If I'm going to hell…I'll just have to meet you there. Do forgive me if I send you on ahead _first!_"

Anna let out a scream of pure rage and frustration as she tried to throw herself forward, Tala was out first, his gun aimed straight at her head. She fell motionless. Her eyes wide with shock and horror. She drank him in. His eyes, his hair, his face. This was it, she decided. She was going to die before this face of an angel. Gritting her teeth she caught sight of her backpack. All the papers that she needed were in that pack. Proof of the criminal misdeeds of the Abbey. How to create the BD Server...and so much more. Michaels needed that bag. She bit her lip ever hard.

"Shoot her in the head." Boris commanded, his voice like ice. He removed his arm from the boy's shoulders, instead placing his hands on them as though he were going to massage his muscles into cooperate with him. Anna winced. Killed by the love of her life. She looked at Tala. He hadn't moved.

"Won't someone come looking for her?" He asked softly as he removed the safety from his gun. His face hadn't even twitched. His eyes hadn't shown anything. He was a statue. A greek god of war. He was Aries. He was Mars. He was a beautiful face that never changed.

"They'll never find her here. She'll be buried with all the others…or perhaps thrown into the pit for the _wolves _to feast on." Anna took a deep breath. Tala aimed at her face. Her eyes staring up at him with love and determination. Shakily she whispered quietly.

"I don't blame you." Tala flinched, but placed his finger on the trigger. She was going to run. No one held her down any longer, she was going to run. She glanced at the bag and licked her lips. Tala stared straight into her eyes, and then he shot. No bullet. Anna was up in a flash. She kicked out at the man with her bag, and she grabbed it and was running just as Tala's curse assailed her ears. He cocked it again, took aim and fired. A hot searing pain shot through her leg, and she screamed, still running through as the adrenaline poured through her.

She could hear the people behind her, chasing her, but she didn't dare look back. Another shot – her arm now. She felt that one. Blood splattered everywhere. Tears filled her eyes. Running as hard as she could she made it (at last) into the busy streets of Moskva. People turned and stared. Blood falling from her body, half naked and running she was a sight to see.

"Anna!" Kai's voice echoed into her head. The subtitles appearing on the screen to show he was talking on their comm.-link.

"Kai!" She breathed out in relief. "Help-"

"Anna!" She gasped painfully, vision fading. "Anna you have to keep going alright? Luka won't kill you." Luka might not…but Tala certainly was capable and able to. Nobody mentioned that though.

"W-where?"

"The pier. Fall off it." He told her softly. Footsteps echoed loudly behind her and she dared to look back at Tala who was aiming at her once more. Panic filled her hear, and she felt tears pour down her cheeks.

The water appeared before her, and she felt the rest of her strength fail just as she reached it. Gasping painfully, she looked back, turning to face the boy she loved that was sent to kill her. His face was calm and collected, but his eyes were raging storm clouds of emotion. He looked as though he were about to cry while at the same time maintaining that perfect sense of balance and that perfect synergy that was what he was supposed to look like.

She noticed for the first time, it seemed, his arm was bleeding. She almost asked him what had happened, but she stayed quiet. She didn't need to say anything. Even if she could that is. Her very muscles were vibrating painfully from how hard she'd pushed herself.

His gun gleamed in the darkness of the night, it was like a beacon to hell. It being the key and the door and the lock and the path all in one. It was the entrance to the land of the dead and as it shimmered and gleaned it looked beautiful and inviting. She wondered what it would be like to die. She thought about all the myths and story tales that are told to the young about the land of the dead. Where the God of all brought you to the pearly gates and St. Peter beckoned you in.

Or would it be like the Norse believed? All those virgins and all that meat and drink. She wondered if that would be heaven. Virgins and food. She didn't think so. She thought only about the lovely face of her beloved. _That _would be heaven. To stare at his face and be held in those arms forever. That would be heaven.

"Luka..." She whispered. He raised that gun straight to her face. "Thank you." And as she leaned back, planning to fall to her death beneath the waves, just as he shot, her eyes slipped closed. She appeared to have been killed the action was so perfect. Tala stood there, his face stony and pale and captured on the security camera of the piers, the watchers would swear that the boy had tears running down his deathly white face in that moment.

He turned around slowly, starting to walk back, when a cop car appeared before him. Their lights were all ablaze, like the warning of danger yet to come. From the look on his face it appeared as though he thought for a moment that they were there for Anna, that they would dive in and save her and they would bring her to the surface where she could take some of those long agonizing breathes that you always have when you almost drown.

The gasp of life. The breath of fresh air. The coughs would be the most wonderful sounds he'd ever heard. Yet as the two men exited the car, his body stiffened. They weren't there for Anna. They were there for him.

They opened their doors and they hid behind them like mice hiding from a cat. They had their guns aimed at him and for a moment he blinked in confusion. He couldn't understand why they were doing that. His mind was running on slow mo, and he wasn't getting very far. He opened his mouth to ask them, but they started shouting angry words of hate towards him.

"Get down on the ground! Put the gun down on the ground and place your hands on your head!" The boy glanced at the weapon for a moment before nodding slowly and sinking to his knees. Laying on his stomach he slid the pistol away from him. His pale fingers slid into his red hair as he held himself in that one position. He lay his legs out spread eagled on the ground as he awaited their judgement.

The two men stormed forwards, cuffing his wrists painfully behind his back. He hissed as the metal dug deep into his skin. They apparently cut him as they'd slid the bands around his slim joint.

"It's not a real gun." He whispered to the man that was roughly dragging him to his feet. He felt himself trip as he was shoved hard towards the cruiser. His feet stumbled, and he couldn't use his hands to balance himself. He was caught just in time to twist his ankle. Hissing painfully once more he glanced back at the man that was pushing him. He looked smug, as though he should win some kind of award, and Tala hated him for it. The watchers too couldn't believe that the man looked so pleased with himself, it was almost as though he were purposefully trying to cause the boy unnecessary pain.

"Be quiet you murderer!" The cop snapped, backhanding him. He flinched at the strike. Outside of the Abbey, no one had ever lay a hand on him. It was a new experience, and his head ducked down at it. He didn't like it. He could excuse Boris – the man was a criminal and a fiend, but how could he excuse a police officer who was standing by the law? The other officer grabbed the fire arm off the ground as he took pictures of the scene.

"What kind of gun is this?" He asked as he looked it over.

"It's not a gun sir." The child replied softly. He was slammed against the car, body being roughly searched for anything to be confiscated. "It's my blade launcher."

"Your what?" He was questioned, he tried to look over at the man but the cop behind him slammed his head into the car and he grunted. His face was still bruised from where Spencer had beat on him earlier that week. The shove had been a warning, and he understood it. No moving unless ordered to. Got it.

"My beyblade launcher." He clarified. "I'm from Balkov Abbey."

"That Beyblading school?" The nicer cop asked. He looked over the gun once more, trying to find any way a bullet could get into it. There wasn't one. It was unlike any firearm he'd ever seen. There was even a spot for the beyblade right there...he licked his lips, as though trying to figure out if the kid was telling the truth or not.

"Yes sir." Luka felt the man behind him pat him down once more, as though trying to find something that was hiding before. He found it, and slid his hand into his pocket, digging his hand into the boy's head needlessly as he did so to keep him still despite the fact that Tala hadn't really moved.

"Where's your blade, son?" Tala opened his mouth to grit out his answer when he was cut off once more.

"Right here." The man behind him had pulled out the silver and white top from the boy's pocket, glaring at it hatefully. He yelped though when his rough fingers dug into the sharpened points of the blade. Wolborg was maintained to perfection, and he was a fool if he thought that wolves didn't bare their fangs even in their sleep. It was a miracle that the bitbeast hadn't come out to try to intervene with Luka's rough treatment by now. A stray icicle would have been the norm at this point.

"It's sharp." Tala warned quietly, trying to remain calm about the situation. His head was roughly cracked against the hood in response to the cheeky statement. It was clear that the man behind him didn't like him, and he was more then willing to take it out on him now that he apparently had the chance. The redhead couldn't figure out why, he'd never done anything to the man before, hell, he'd never _seen _the man before, but it was obvious that the cop didn't like him in the slightest.

"Oi! Chekov, that's enough!"

"We have witnesses that say that this brat was aiming at that damn tourist. I don't care what he's said, we're going to get America on if we don't charge him!"

"America?" Tala whispered. "Sir? What are you talking about?"

"We got a call saying you were shooting at an unidentified foreigner. A girl, brown hair-"

The nice cop truly was being nicer then he had to. He didn't really need to explain what was going on. All he had to do was throw him into the back of the cruiser and send him on his way.

"Anna." Tala supplied helpfully. The two officers stared at him. "She's...a friend. My girlfriend. She's been living here for five years by now I think."

"Were you shooting at her?"

"No sir. We were walking home when I stopped to get something to eat. I was going to drop her off before returning to the Abbey, but the food there isn't all that great-"

"Get on with it!" The cop holding him down hissed.

"Yes sir...When I turned around she was gone. I stepped out of the shop and went to try to find her, and there was a man holding her down in an alley not to far from here. He had pulled off her shirt, and was touching her. I hit him, trying to get him off her, and when he fell she got out and started to run to me. That's when he shot at us. I didn't even see the gun sir, I swear. He hit her in the arm and the leg, and me too." Tala nodded towards his arm as proof. "We took off running sir."

"And where's Anna now?" The cop asked skeptically as he looked around. Tala bit his lip.

"I lost track of her, sir."

"You lost track of her?"

"Yes...When I got shot, I turned back to look at him, and when I looked up she was gone. I ended up here, hoping she was around, but there was no one."

"Then when we go over to that video camera up there and look at it, it's going to show you coming here _by yourself _and then us appearing to arrest you. Right?" The jerk roughly pointed Tala's face straight to the camera where his unblinking eyes stared right back.

"Yes, sir." And with that, the screen faded.

He was sitting in the lobby of a police station when he was seen again. His knees pulled up to his chest, and his head resting on them as he tried to breathe in and out slowly yet surely. He felt horrible. He looked horrible. His dark hair was slipping down his cheeks and he looked like he was having the worst night of his life. Worse then even the three.

The door to the police station opened, and he glanced up slowly. Voltaire in all his glory was standing there looking rather annoyed he'd been dragged out of bed to pick up the teenager. He completely ignored him and walked straight towards the desk where he started talking about signing the boy out.

After a few haggling minutes, Voltaire roughly pulled the teen up by the arm and started to force him towards the door. It was only when they got out the door, and out of sight from everyone inside, did the man's hold look less rough as his arm slid around the boy's shaking shoulders and gently led him towards the limo that was waiting for them.

Back at the Abbey, Boris was infuriated. When Tala was brought back from the police station, his team mates were looking at him with concern and worry. He didn't say anything. He kept his eyes towards the ground, and his hair shadowed his features. He looked like a mess.

Boris roughly grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged him closer, shaking him the whole while. He was shouting at the boy, yelling at him for his mistakes and failures, but Tala barely even looked like he was listening. He was staring at the ground, his eyes completely blank and devoid of any and all emotion. He was a wreck.

Voltaire was talking to Boris now, heatedly demanding why it was he had to drag the teenager out of prison on a murder charge. The two of them were talking in low voices and eventually the Director shoved Tala towards his friends and told him to go back to his room and stay there.

He didn't look capable of finding his room, let alone follow such a simple command. Bryan and Spencer took an arm each though, and they carefully started to lead him down the halls. Ian led the way like a beacon in the dark. His little body was like a beacon in the dark as he was followed silently and wordlessly as they marched through the depressing halls of Balkov Abbey.

"You alright Tala?" Spencer whispered softly as he looked at his friend's face. The boy didn't reply.

"Did you shoot her?" Bryan asked, trying to figure out the answer for himself. Tala froze. He couldn't make his feet move. He couldn't do anything.

He'd said only a few days before that he would willingly carve out the hearts of his dearest friends. He'd said he'd murder them for Boris. He'd said that...but he hadn't actually meant he'd do it. Even Boris must have known that he wouldn't have actually killed his friends...

To actually have shot Anna. To have watched the light fade from her eyes as she fell from the pier. Her body seemingly still and motionless for one brief moment as it tipped backwards into the lake. She looked like an Angel going to heaven. Words started to filter through his brain. Words that he never really considered before.

He'd learned them in the classes that they had at the Abbey. He'd learned them as he'd sat there listening to the lectures. He never really cared for them before, he always thought they were silly, foolish words that meant nothing to him, but now they were ringing through his head for some reason. He murmured them quietly, trying to remember where he'd heard them outside of the classes he was in.

'"I saw the best minds of my generation...destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical naked..."' Bryan turned to him in confusion, this certainly didn't seem like the time to start quoting old poems.

"Howl?" Spencer asked as he looked at Tala in bemusement. The boy just kept on going, he kept murmuring phrases and lines from that long poem of confusion.

'"Dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night."'

"Tala, now's not really the time to be spitting out Ginsberg." Bryan growled looking at the boy sternly. They'd reached his room. He was still mumbling lines of prose like poetry. The beat poem slipping from his tongue in an almost mantra or trance.

Ian pulled open the door, beckoning the three into the room. They sat Tala down on the bed, his wide eyes wide as he whispered words that seemed to come unbidden into his mind. Words that were impossible for him to stop saying.

'"...who bared their brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated...'" Bryan was tugging the boy's blood stained shirt off. Revealing the bullet wound in his arm. He kept on whispering.

"Get me some peroxide, I think he has some under the corner floor board." Spencer motioned towards where he thought the stash was, and Ian was quick to go grab it. Bryan stepped back and let the would be doctor take a look at the injury. It was just a skim. A scrape. It wouldn't even scar.

'"Who were expelled from the academies for crazy and publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull..."' Ian was back with the peroxide, and Spencer twisted off the cap. Taking some of the shirt that was just removed, he poured it onto the fabric and then pressed it to the boy's cut. He didn't even flinch, he just murmured onwards in a daze.

"I'm going to grab a bandage from the infirmary." Ian muttered before running back down the hall and around the corner.

"'Who cowered in unshaven rooms in underwear, burning their money in wastebaskets and listening to the Terror through the wall."'

"God, of all the crappy poems they made us read, you couldn't remember a more cheerful one then _Howl_? Cut it out Tala." Bryan growled, tapping the muttering boy's cheek lightly.

"He's not Tala." Spencer whispered softly. Bryan pulled his hand back like he'd been burnt.

'"Who ate fire in paint hotels or drank turpentine in Paradise Alley, death, or purgatoried their torsos night after night."'

"Luka...Luka, look at me." Bryan was kneeling before his friend, taking the boy's hands in his own. Ian was back, he held up the bandage and Spencer took it from him, starting to place it on the wound. Tala kept whispering on, never ceasing his murmuring. Tears had started to form in his eyes. He looked miserable. He looked like he was breaking down. His heart was shattering. "Luka...can you hear me?" The others were looking at the boy worriedly. They didn't know what to make of the fact that he was so out of it. The fact that he was so broken was starting to scare them truly. "Luka...?"

"'Who...who...who wandered around and around at midnight in the r-railroad yard, wondering where to go...and went...and-and went...leaving no br-broken hearts," Tears were slipping from his eyes, and Bryan cursed reaching up and pulling the redhead to his chest, whispering to him softly, rocking him back and forth as the teen's body started to convulse in pained agony. His heart was shredding in two. Anna's death was dragging on his soul. He felt like he was dying.

He felt like his soul had been ripped from his heart. The watchers felt tears forming in their own eyes. They knew that Anna was alive, they'd met her and spoken to her, but Tala didn't know that. Tala thought that that shot that he had aimed straight for her skull had made its impact. She had fallen in such an arc. Such a perfect arc into the water – and god! She'd never come up. She never screamed.

The police had come and they'd taken him away. They'd taken him away and he hadn't had time to search for her! Did Kai go after her? He hadn't seen him at the station. Was Kai mad at him? Mad that he'd murdered the girl that he'd grown up with. The only friend he'd had outside of the Abbey? Did Kai hate him? Did he hate himself?

'"Who thought they were only mad when Baltimore gleamed in supernatural ecstasy."'

Oh god, he felt like his body was tearing itself to shreds. His hands were scratching at the insides of his arms. Long scratches that were digging away at his skin. He felt like his body was crumbling and it could no longer keep himself upright, but his head! Oh his head it burned!

Spencer tore his hands from his arms when he'd dug down in his skin hard enough to draw blood. He too was whispering to him. His words were meaningless though. They had no meaning at all to him. They were empty. Anna was dead. Anna was dead and gone and he had killed her.

He'd killed the girl he'd loved. He'd killed his mother for it had been Boris who had sent those men after them. He'd killed Wawoo who was now trapped in his beyblade forever, never to be free again. He'd killed himself time and time again. He'd killed his parents who had swerved when Kai had gotten into a fist fight to defend him, and now he'd killed Anna. Sweet innocent Anna who had kissed him in the hospital and he'd freaked out. Freaked out because he'd had nightmares of a woman holding him to her, kissing him and telling him to listen to her. Nightmares of one of the female doctors at the Abbey telling him as she drugged him that he needed to be a good boy. Nightmares of that same eerie face, kissing him and telling him that he needed to be quiet. He'd freaked out and now he'd killed her. He'd killed the only woman in his life that was left.

'"Who burned cigarette holes in their arms protesting the narcotic tobacco haze of Capitalism,"'

He thrashed. He struggled. He needed to get away. He needed to find Anna in that water. He needed to go back there and search for her. Maybe she was alive...maybe she had found a pocket of air and had been able to breathe. Maybe, against all odds, she was waiting for him. Her hands outstretched and holding up for him.

_I don't blame you_.

He screamed. He kicked out, he was being trapped. He was being confined. He was being forced into doing something he didn't want to do. He tried to pull at his arms, but Spencer held them tightly. He tried to pull out of Bryan's hug but he held him to firm. He tried to call out but Ian had closed the door. His three friends had done everything to make sure he stayed there and that no one interrupted them. He hated them. He loathed them. He wanted them to die.

No he didn't want them to die. He wanted to die. He wanted to take his life before someone else could die at his expense. Before he had to watch someone he loved be washed away because it was his fault. He couldn't take it. He didn't want to be there any more. He didn't want to deal with them any more. He wanted to be free from everything. He didn't want to feel pain!

'"Who hic-hic-hiccupped endlessly t-trying to giggle...but wound up with a...with a sob behind a partition in a T-Turkish Bath when the blonde and naked angel came to pierce them with a sword."'

And how she'd pierced him. That angel of his heart. That angel who had cursed him and damned him since they'd first met all those years ago. Her pretty face, her warm arms. That smile that she reserved for his eyes only. That moment when she'd told him she liked him. That day that she told him she loved him. That time when they were together in that office and Bryan had walked in on them. That kiss at the tournament. These were the memories that he had of her.

All the years he spent teasing her and making fun of her. Bryan knocking her flat on her back when she had attempted to fight him. The laughter they'd all had at her expense. The beautiful way she'd rolled her eyes and just let them have at it – knowing that they could always find happiness in the darkest of situations. He cried.

He felt his heart tearing. He felt his lungs burning. He cried.

"Who walked...all night with their shoes full of blood...on the snowbank docks...waiting for a door in the East River...to open to a room full of steam-heat and opium." His friends were holding him together. They were telling him that it was okay. That he could cry and they wouldn't tell. They were the only peace he had. He felt his heart breaking. "Who created great suicidal d-dramas on the apartment cliff-banks of the Hudson under the wartime blue floodlight of the moon and their heads shall be crowned with laurel in oblivion."

Anna was gone and taking his life seemed to be an easy step along the road. The constant battle he was fighting, the espionage and the danger his life was shrouded in. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to end. He wanted to just close his eyes and breathe in a deep breath of acceptance. He wanted to just let go and have everything be okay in the end. He just wanted it to all be over. He wanted to at least go to her funeral...the funeral that he knew he would never see.

'"Who ate the lamb step of the imagination or digested the crab at the muddy bottom of the rivers of Bowery."' Tala looked at Ian in dumb shock. Ian had murmured the next line. All eyes stared at him. A faint blush was on the tiny boy's features, but he had said it confidently. One of the few hopeful lines in the whole poem, and Ian had been certain that he would miss it. Miss the feeling of magic and hope that that line portrayed. Crab at the bottom of a city river...it was unheard of, and yet it was magical. Anna may not be dead. '"Who wept at the romance of the streets with their pushcarts full of onions and bad music. Who sat in boxes breathing in the darkness under the bridge, and rose up to build harpischords in their lofts."'

"Who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet tail borsht and tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom." Luka countered the lines of hope and belief with a line further on down the poem. He didn't like Ian's attempt at speaking the only language he seemed to understand in his chaotic mind.

"'Who plunged themselves under meat trucks looking for an egg."'

'"Who threw their watches off the roofs to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time and alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade. Who cut their wrists three time successively unsuccessfully, gave up and were forced to open antique stores where they thought they were growing old and cried. Who were burned alive in their innocent flannel suits on Madison Avenue amid blasts of leaden verse and the tanked up clatter of the iron regiments of fasion and the nitroglycerine shrieks of the fairies of advertising and the mustard gas of sinister intelligent editors, or were run down by the drunken taxicabs of Absolute Reality." Ian was silent. He couldn't go on. There were no other lines he could think of that would make the other feel any better. Perhaps that wasn't what he wanted though. Perhaps he just needed to feel like the person in the poem.

Perhaps that poem was him. A broken soul who was torn away from everything. A broken body who had been snatched from the world they wanted. A person who had been destroyed and had been taken away from the only thing it wanted. Perhaps all these horrible images, all these crimes and all these beliefs were what Luka was subconsciously making up for his life.

"Who crashed through their minds in jail waiting for impossible criminals with golden heads and the charm of reality in their hearts who sang sweet blues to Alcatraz." Boris would never be going to jail. Somehow he would always make it out. Luka had been sent to jail. He'd been sent to sit in that police station while he waited to be picked up, being accused of murdering the woman he loved most dearly. Boris never even stepped foot there...Boris was always free to go.

His voice grew strong. It grew powerful, his eyes fell darker and darker into the abyss. He felt like he was drowning. His tears had vanished, and all that echoed through the room as his body fell completely and totally still, was his dark voice as it whispered out the last few lines of the poem.

"Who dreamt and made incarnate gaps in Time and Space through images juxtaposed, and trapped the archangel of the soul between 2 visual images and joined the elemental verbs and set the noun and dash of consciousness together jumping with sensation of Pater Omnipotens Aeterna Deus. To recreate the syntax and measure of poor human prose and stand before you speechless and intelligent and shaking with shame, rejected yet confessing out the soul to conform to the rhythm of thought in his naked and endless head, the madman bum and angel beat in Time, unknown, yet putting down here what might be left to say in time come after death, and rose reincarnate in the ghostly clothes of jazz in the goldhorn shadow of the band and blew the suffering of America's naked mind for love into an eli eli lamma lamma sabacthani saxophone cry that shivered the cities down to the last radio...with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies good to eat a thousand years."

And with those final parting words, those final broken phrases....Tala fell forwards. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he was completely lost to the world whose only response to the whole thing, was to have his three friends hold him in their own silent misery as they cried for both his and Anna's sake in the dark cold abyss of his room. No longer feeling even the least bit comfortable, and now feeling as though their own hearts had been butchered out of their bodies...

And Tala had spoken true. All those days ago when Boris had asked him if he would carve out their hearts. He had done so. He'd done so with grace and poetic ability. He had simply murmured a few lines of prose like beat poetry. He had simply murdered their dear friend. He had simply fainted from exhaustion and of a broken heart. He had simply lost himself in grief, and yet their hearts had been carved out just as easily as he'd said he'd do so.

_Then they have lived out their usefulness to your cause._

Perhaps it was only the watchers who realized that it had been Anna, sweet little Anna, who had been reading Howl not all that long ago...who had carried that book with her into the room that they were meeting in, who had spoken with it to Bryan – and clearly to Tala. Perhaps it was ironic, that with Anna's death, the only thing he could truly remember about his time with her...was the poem that echoed the misery in his own life. Forever and for always.


	18. Moloch A Talk Worth Having

**Windstar:** The first thing that I would like to say is that I am very sorry for how long it has been since my last update. It's been two weeks, and I know that isn't fair at all to deprive you - especially on a cliff hangerish ending. My reasoning is that I've been going back and forth between college orientations and various meetings and events that have taken me away from my own computer and ability to respond. Sorry!

This chapter is unique in that it still follows the Howl theme. Once more as a disclaimer Allen Ginsberg wrote Howl and I have no intentions of claiming it's mine. I hope you'll all forgive the poem but it fits and I think that it works for the purposes as follows.

Many events in this chapter are ones that are clarifying in nature, and they are meant to bring some reality to the darkness of this fic. This is the END of this section. Starting next chapter I can promise you things are going to be getting more involved with the "present day" time frame and there is going to be a lot of talk of various episodes in the series. That being said, I'm purposefully going to point out that all the quotes and lines from the series that I have taken do not belong to me and that I will (and have) used direct quotes in the past and future.

I hope this chapter will give you a better understanding to the enigma of Mikhail who I must admit I've grown a fond liking too. I hope that you'll find this to be an enlightening sequence of advents as things start to pick up. Though this is by far one of the shorter chapters in the story, it is not lacking in content.

A special thanks to my TWO reviewers who are amazing in all senses of the word - Mika and Takeru's Angel. I love hearing from you and it's great to know that I've still got a fanbase even if it is small!

Enjoy!

**Chapter Seventeen:  
**

Tala's hands gripped the gun that was given to him. His aim was perfect. He never missed. He shot the target's center each and every time. Boris stood behind him, pressing the button to reset the targets, faster and faster, calling out shots and demanding perfection.

Tala had hesitated before, he had missed a killing blow the first time, and now it was time to train. The target switched, he shot, the target switched, he shot. Over and over again. He ignored the fact that as he shot he felt like his body was trembling. He ignored the fact that the gun felt like dead weight in his hands.

He just kept shooting. He just kept doing what he was supposed to be doing. He never once faltered. The target switched, and he hit the center. Five shots in a row, each one hitting the same mark so it appeared to only have been shot once. That was the perfection that was being demanded of him. That was the perfection he was giving.

"You're pathetic." Boris chanted from behind him, his eyes glaring at the boy's back. Off to the side; Bryan, Spencer, and Ian were standing at attention. They were being made to watch, just like before. They were being made to watch the slow destruction of their friend's mind.

Tala didn't even look like he was trying. At 100m he was shooting blind and hitting each time. He was still in that daze he'd been in ever since he had shot Anna. He was still in that constant state of unawares. He even proved it when he jumped like a frightened kitten each time someone moved and he hadn't expected them to.

It was like Spencer had said earlier...Tala had left the building. He'd vacated the premesis. He took the F train out and he was off to live out the rest of his life away. Anywhere would do, but away was where he was. Away from this.

All that was left now was the small and innocent, fragile little soul that somehow through all these years had remained relatively free from any drastic harm. That fragile soul that had, all those years ago, been content drawing in the basement while his father was working.

That little soul that had played in the yard, and celebrated Christmas with his parents. They may not have been his real parents – that history was full of blood and torment – but they were his parents none the less. That family, in that house had raised him as their own.

There with Kai that little soul had flourished and had been a true child. Then it had been shielded. Shielded by the persona that he allowed himself to be overcome by. Shielded by that mask that he kept in place at all times. He never removed it. He was never that foolish...never...except for one other person.

One person that he let himself open up to. One other person that he laughed with and had spent many days simply teasing her and smiling at her. One, solitary person. One single life...and he had killed her. His mask had fallen to the ground and like porcelain it shattered on impact.

All that was left was the soul, still trapped in that childlike form from all those years ago. That soul, still lost like a child on the night of his parents' deaths. That soul, still standing in that hallway of the hospital while his brother was throwing fits and his blue eyes took in the horrible world around him. That soul...was all that was left to deal with everything that Boris had to offer.

Luka now stood before them all. His eyes blinked slowly yet surely, his lungs breathed in air, his heart still beat, and he was physically alive. Yet mentally he didn't know what he was doing. Mentally he was lost. Mentally dark words were echoing endlessly in his head and the only thing he could speak seemed to be phrases from that poem. That long dark poem that had kidnapped his mind.

The only memory he had, the only words he understood was that poem. That poem that he was holding on to despite the fact that the world was moving around him. Luka was at a stand still. He could no more move then he could breathe through his skin. He was lost, lost in the daze that was his life.

Anna was dead. He had killed her. Who was Anna? Anna was Howl. Anna was that girl who was falling with that perfect arch, her lips parted just so. Lips that whispered words to him, words saying that they didn't blame him. Blame him for what? For killing her? Who was she? She was Howl...

Cyclical. He was cyclical. He was trapped and his mind kept replaying the image of her back falling over the edge of the pier to the lake. The shot that he fired. The bullet that would have hit her. The cops coming, not to help her, but to arrest him. Then Howl. Words from Howl.

_Moloch...Solitude...Filth...Ugliness...Ashcans and unob__tainable dollars! Children screaming under the stairways! Boys sobbing in armies! Old men weeping in the parks! _

"You've killed before." Boris was still talking to him, but he hadn't heard him.

He'd just kept firing away, kept shooting. When he ran out of bullets he put more in, then he raised his gun up and he kept shooting. He couldn't remember who he'd killed. He couldn't remember any faces. Only Anna. Anna who was smiling at him in his mind. Anna who was laughing at something he'd said. Anna who's back he'd pressed against the wall, his tongue dipping into her mouth as he slid his body against her, his hands in her hair, his eyes closing in ecstasy. He fired his gun. He didn't think, he didn't move, he didn't react. He just fired his gun. The bullet sliced through the target without even blinking. Boris hit the button, and his eyes stared at the boy through his goggles, curious to see what the reaction would be. 

_Moloch! Moloch! Nightmare of Moloch! Moloch the loveless! Mental Moloch! Moloch the heavy judger of men! _

Tala froze, his gun aimed straight at the target. The target wasn't a target though. It was Anna. Her picture, frozen from the security camera. The same image that he'd had of her that night as he'd aimed at her. The same face that was looking at him. Those words that were whispering to him, those eyes that stared at him unflinchingly. "Well...shoot." Boris commanded when the teen hesitated to long. Bryan's fingers had clenched into fists, his eyes flashing with anger at the sight of Anna's face on the target. Her lips were moving. Not a picture at all. She was telling him the last words that they'd heard her say. BANG. He fired.

His breath was coming out in gasps. He looked like he was on the brink of a nervous break down. The body on the target had flinched and fallen to the ground – dead. The image was a projection, shining down from above. It was playing scenes as though he had killed the girl like he'd been supposed to. Luka felt his hands start to tremble. The screen changed. Anna's face, she was turning, turning in shock, her eyes wide with fear. He shot her. He shot her right between the eyes. Blood started to spill from the wound as she fell to the ground. Bryan was there now, his hands holding the girl still, Spencer hadn't arrived yet. Tala shot her there too. More and more images appeared, and with each one he started to breathe harder and harder. All the while Boris watched with grim satisfaction.

_Moloch the incomprehensible prison! Moloch the crossbone soulless jailhouse and Congress of sorrows! Moloch whose buildings are judgment! _

Anna was screaming, yelling at Boris, she was dead on the ground. Anna was looking up with dark eyes that held no fear. She was bleeding from the skull. Anna was running away, her back to him, she was twitching as her spine was crushed from the piercing of a bullet. Over and over again, he shot her time and again. His eyes filling with tears. He would shoot her until he didn't flinch, but he couldn't stop flinching. Each time he killed her, his body reacted as though struck. Each time he shot her he couldn't help but to try to avoid it some how. Yet his aim was perfect and while his mind rejected reality, his body had been well trained. A new target, a new death. Over and over and over again. 

_Moloch whose fingers are ten armies! Moloch whose breast is a cannibal dynamo! _ _Moloch whose ear is a smoking tomb! Moloch whose eyes are a thousand blind windows!_

The target changed. Anna was still the face, but now she wasn't running or afraid. Now she was looking at him at the tournament, all dressed up and pretty. Her stars on her face and her hair just so, she'd been so charmingly adorable dressed like a little fan girl. She'd been so entertaining that he'd brightened up after that brief kiss they'd shared at the tournament. Regardless of the headache that had gripped him, she'd made him happy. He froze. He couldn't shoot that face. He couldn't kill that smile. He couldn't kill her when she was so happy and so beautiful and so very much alive. He couldn't do it. His hand wavered, tears blinded his eyes. He looked and felt like he was going to pass out from the shock of everything. Boris moved forwards, his hand gripping Luka's around the gun. His other hand gripped his chin. He pushed the boy's face towards the Target, made sure that they were looking at each other, and then he squeezed the trigger – forcing Luka's hand to shoot the girl who was so alive and so beautiful to him.

"Never hesitate." Boris hissed. He pushed the button. Anna was back, she was spinning around in excitement, her brown hair flying everywhere as she twirled. She stopped just long enough to look at him, her hands out stretched, he shot her. She was giggling about something, a faint blush on her features. He killed her. Tears now spilled down his face, but Boris kept his hands locked firmly on his blood child's body. He made sure that every time he thought it was appropriate, the boy killed the girl that had stolen his heart along with all those files. 

_I am a consciousness without a body!_

His body wavered, his eyes starting to slip closed as his knees buckled, but Boris held him firm. Boris held him close, forcing the boy to be upright regardless of his levels of awareness. Regardless of the fact he was dead weight in his father's hands. Boris forced the barely awake and barely aware boy to stay there, shooting onwards forever. Each time killing the girl that he loved. Each time killing the only thing that he had left. Each time tearing his heart out as he stared at the dead child that he was aiming at over and over again. Anna meant death. Every time he saw her face he was to kill her. Every time she appeared before him, she was to die. That was his mission. The next time he saw her face, he would shoot her without question. The next time she appeared before him, she would be killed without further notice. There was nothing to it. Once she appeared before him, before she could even say a word, he was to kill her. 

_Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstacies! gone down the...river! Dreams! adorations! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit! _

Finally, as Luka's gun ran out of bullets to fire....Boris threw his son's body to the ground. He glanced up at the three boys who stood at attention by the wall and he motioned for them to take Luka away. They listened without question, because that had been what _they _had been trained to do. They had been trained to listen. They had been trained to not think. They had been trained to react. Spencer and Bryan carefully picked up their fallen comrade, and they carefully started to half drag half carry him towards his room. His eyes had rolled back in his head. His body was all dead weight, and like a beacon in the dark, Ian led the way, silent and powerful. No one said a word. Not one person said a word when they were passed. Even Mikhail, for the first time in his life, never said one word. He looked at the group and he looked away. He didn't have a snide comment to say, he didn't have an angry barb to throw, he simply stayed silent. Silent and quiet. He said nothing as he was passed.

Bryan whispered a thank you, but Mikhail didn't show if he heard him or not. That was for the best, because Bryan didn't want to think that Mikhail was pitying his dear friend and brother of his heart. Bryan didn't want to think that Mikhail was finally starting to look down on the boy from the standpoint that he was actually better off. He didn't want to think about that at all. In a sick way, Mikhail hating Tala meant the world was still spinning normally, that nothing had changed. Now that Mikhail had said nothing, it made him feel as though everything was wrong.

"Luka?" Ian whispered softly once they'd gotten back to the red head's room. The teen still hadn't woken up yet, and he looked like he never would. His face was pale and he looked terrible. His mental capacity had been completely spent over the past forty eight hours. He could no more keep himself upright then he could shoot his gun one more time at the face of that angel he'd fallen in love with.

"Fucking Boris. Doing that to him." Bryan was seething.

"We knew he would...he wouldn't have just let him get off with not killing her right there."

"She was a little girl! Who knew she had enough balls to run like that!" Bryan hissed back, though the argument wasn't very strong at all. To them, Anna's death was still something they were dealing with too. In their own ways. They couldn't express their depression. They couldn't show how sad they were. They could only move forwards and they could only try to keep Luka's head above the water before he could snap out of it and slip back into that nice cold mask that they'd become so used to over the years.

_Breakthroughs! over the river! flips and crucifixions! gone down the flood! Highs! Epiphanies! Despairs! Ten years' animal screams and suicides! Minds! New loves! Mad generation! down on the rocks of Time! _

Even in his sleep though, tears slipped from his eyes. His three friends, three brothers, lay him back on his bed. They draped a blanket lovingly over his body and stood by, waiting and watching, hoping that his nightmare would end soon. The watchers found themselves in the most heartbreaking predicament they'd ever come across. There, on that screen, was proof of all proof that despite whatever had happend to them in the present, Tala Ivanov was very much a child just like them. He was a child who had deserved a life other then the one he was given. Perhaps in another world, in another time, that car wouldn't have crashed. Kai wouldn't have burned down the Abbey. Sacha wouldn't have vanished from everyone's memory. Perhaps if his parents were still alive, he'd be living the life he was supposed to live, happily and among family. Perhaps...if his mother...that unknown woman who had sacrificed her life to save his own all those years ago...perhaps if she herself had not been captured...or killed...then he could be living somewhere peacefully.

Then they realized, it wasn't just Tala. It was everyone in that Abbey. Everyone that was involved with that place came out with nightmares and scars. Bryan, who was forced into such a strange state of being, with constant meddling with the hormones in his body to make him more temperamental...Spencer who was under constant pressure from those above him to maintain that composure and level of excellence that was biased in some ways because of how broad and tall he'd grown...Ian who was always being mocked for his small stature. All three were subjects of abuse and experimentation, and all three were only the ones that were heard about.

There were hundreds of other stories...hundreds of other children that were living in that Abbey quietly and with a military discipline that stripped their childhoods away from them. More now then ever before it became increasingly obvious that the lives that the watchers had scorned were really full of more courage and more strength of heart then anything that they could ever have imagined. These were children, the same age as all of them. They knew nothing of eating ice cream with a friend or hot dogs in a park. They were born and raised to be soldiers, and not only soldiers – but spies.

For six years they had been working tirelessly for this cause. Six long years. And now it seemed that like everything, they couldn't handle it anymore. As children, they couldn't handle things that adults would break at. They couldn't continue living like they were adults. They didn't have the capacity to do so. They didn't have the capacity to finally break down and kill in cold blood the people they loved. They couldn't do it. The screen faded, it was about a week after the last scene.

Luka was standing on the roof of the Abbey, his arms leaning on the rail as he looked out over Moskva. He looked drained. Utterly and completely drained. He was still murmuring phrases from _Howl_,his eyes blank and unfocused. He leaned closer to the bar, taking in the blinking lights of the city around them. They were so beautiful. They glittered brightly, so happily. If he strained his eyes, he wondered faintly if he could see the mansion....he wondered if he could see the headlights of Kai's car as it drove him back home...

_  
_"Real holy laughter in the river...they saw it all the wild eyes...the holy yells. They bade farewell...they jumped off the roof, to solitude, waving...carrying flowers. Down to the river and into the street..."

"If you're going to jump...could you do it when I'm not here. People will think I pushed you." The redhead spun about, his gun raised and fired in an instant. The only thing that saved his target was the fact that he seemed to have expected the move, and had knocked the younger teen's hand away so the shot missed.

"Damn. I knew we didn't get along well...but who thought you were ready to murder me?" Mikhail. Of all the people who were to talk to him that night, Mikhail was probably the worst. The two of them hated each other, and there was nothing Mikhail could say that would make him feel better, of that the watchers were certain. "Put that thing away before you hurt someone." The Maim said simply enough, not really caring about the fact the other had tried to shoot him only a moment before. Luka's hand dropped, tears were in his eyes. He hadn't intended to shoot at the other, he hadn't wanted to kill him. Perhaps Mikhail knew that...perhaps that's why he didn't say anything else on the topic.

He took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it with a match he'd probably stolen from someone. He took a drag out of it, and glanced towards the redhead who was frozen – motionless – not two feet away. He looked terrible. Worse then terrible...he looked like he was going to faint right then and there. He was wavering. "Don't fall off, no one will believe me if I tell them I didn't do it." The older man whispered softly, looking at him sternly as he repeated his words from earlier. Blue eyes looked up at him, one lone tear falling down his face. Mikhail just snorted, shaking his head slightly. "You're madder then I am." Was all he said, and brief awareness flitted across the boy's face.

"What was it like when you realized you were the cause of our parents' deaths?" Luka asked. The first thing he'd said in days that hadn't been a line from a poem. Mikhail's eyes glared at him, his hand shooting up to catch the boy's throat in an iron grip. He didn't flinch. He let the older one strangle him.

"What was it like to kill your little girlfriend?" The other asked murderously.

"Did you...love them?" Luka gasped, his breath choking out of him in words. Mikhail released the boy who didn't stagger when he could finally breathe again.

"Did I love them?" The dark-haired boy sighed heavily and looked out towards the city. "I was some foster kid that _she _had found in an alley. I'd run away from home and she had found me there... I was their first kid, and when they adopted me I thought I was something special. Then they started adopting more kids, and then _Sacha _was born. Two years after that, _you_ just had to show up. Taking all the attention, always being the spot light. They barely gave me the time of day anymore. They just kept me around like a pet, always so concerned about you and Sacha. Voltaire always looked at you two, never to me...and I was here first!"

"I'm sorry." Luka looked at his brother in silence. Both had been children of the same parents, and both had been raised by the same system. Only one other person they knew closely could attest to that...only one other person....and he'd escaped. He was no longer in the Abbey. He had the freedom that they denied themselves. Mikhail looked at Luka for a long while.

"You took everything away from me that I wanted."

"I'm sorry."

"You stole away my parents, you stole away my family, and now you stole away _her _and her memory."

"I'm sorry."

"Did you even know that I knew her?"

"Yes." Of course he had known. They'd all been introduced at that party that seemed so long ago. Anna and Mikhail had talked to each other for a greater part of the evening, whenever Tala had been pulled off to parade in front of someone for a while. Eventually, Tala had wandered over and asked Anna to dance, and the two dissapeared onto the dance floor and Mikhail had never said a word of it again. Tala had asked Anna what they'd been talking about, but she just shook her head and told him that she couldn't say...although occasionally at the tournaments Tala would see the two interact in the crowds, whenever the Maims were allowed to watch that is. Mikhail would always talk to her, but it never bothered him. He never feared Mikhail.

"Did you truly _know _that I loved her?" It was like Mikhail needed to hear the words again...he needed to hear the truth.

"Yes." Of course he had known. Anna had told him. She would have. She never lied to him. She told him that she was friends with the boy, she told him that she suspected his feelings. Yet...she never spoke of anything else. She told him honestly about things that didn't matter, but she'd never said a word about what it was they talked about on the few occasions that they'd met.

"She never told you what we talked about?"

"We didn't meet all that often."

"Bull shit, you saw her every month, twice a month. Always during those bi-monthly meetings."

"She never told me." Luka whispered.

"I hate you."

"I'm sorry." Then Mikhail did something surprising, he moved over towards the redhead and he pulled him into a rough hug.

"I'm not doing this for you. Never think this is for you. Anna was _my _girl, even if she was yours. She loved you, and she would have hated you for doing this to yourself. So deal with it. You killed her. She's gone. Now fucking deal with it." Mikhail released him and started to walk back towards the stairs that led downwards. "If you can't deal with it then you were never worth her sacrifice, and I will steal her memory away from you so you can't destroy it anymore." With that he was gone. Luka stood there, standing in silence, watching his retreating form even though his eyes couldn't see him. He didn't smile, there was no breath of understanding or relief. There was no change at all. Luka had spoken to Mikhail because Mikhail was, strangely enough, the only one that was close enough with everything in his life to truly be able to say anything helpful. It didn't seem to matter though. He looked back at the city lights, and though he seemed less dazed, he started to murmur his poem once more.

"Where you laugh with invisible humor..." But he stopped, shook his head, and turned around, walking back into the hollows of the Abbey, for once decidedly silent.

The screen faded and changed.

This time the whole team was together and they were entering the ISA headquarters, clearly there for their bimonthly meeting. They were walking into the lobby when Kai appeared before them, his face revealing neither happiness nor sadness. It was base neutral, and as Luka lifted his eyes to see him, the two met each others gazes. Kai wasn't mad. "Kai!" Bryan called out, taking a few steps ahead of the others. "What happened, is she alright?" No need to ask who _she _was. Kai's face twisted into a strained smile. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his blue face paint looked more faded then usual, it seemed like it hadn't been put on for a couple of days. His usually nice clothes were wrinkled and his hair was tangled. He'd been there for a while, and he hadn't been sleeping.

"She's alive." Luka felt like he'd been punched in the gut. His mouth dropped open in a silent 'oh'. "She got a bit of a concussion, and a mild case of hypothermia, but aside from that she's fine. Neither her arm nor leg were shot through the bone, and she's on crutches for now so she doesn't stress her stitches, but she's fine."

"I shot her in the head." Luka felt his heart beating wildly, his head was spinning. _Where you scream in a straight-jacket that you're losing the game of actual pingpong of the abyss. _

"You missed." Kai replied firmly. "She's in the conference room, I told her to stay there and I'd come get you."

"That's great!" Ian was laughing, his face bright with excitement. Luka though...Luka was shaking his head.

"Tell her to leave." He said coldly, his eyes sharpening greatly.

"Excuse me?" Kai didn't look like he thought he heard that right, but everyone was staring at him in confusion.

"Luka...Anna's alive, she's alright-" Ian was cut off.

"Tell her. To _fucking _leave." Luka's voice was deadly, the room around him suddenly feeling _very _cold. Wolborg's doing?

"That's what you want me to tell the girl you just shot? 'Your boyfriend wants me to tell you to _fucking _leave.' Seriously?"Kai was staring at him incredulously.

"Yes. Get her out of that office. Send her home. I don't care what you do with her. Just make her _leave_." For a moment, nobody said anything. They couldn't believe what they were hearing, but it was Kai who realized just how much desperation was in his voice. This wasn't about him not being able to face up to his guilt. This was something else entirely. The teen nodded faintly, before turning and walking back.

"Then I'll phrase it just like that, just for you." He left, and a few moments later they followed. When the others got to the office, she wasn't there, and they were relatively pissed off. They had wanted to see her, they'd wanted to talk to her and to see if she was alright with their own eyes. Luka's decision had stopped them from being able to do that and they were pissed.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Bryan snapped, furious that Luka had done that.

"Drop it Bryan or I will drop you." Was all the redhead said.

"I'd like to see you try." Blue eyes turned, glaring hatefully at him. In moments, Bryan was on the ground, his back hitting it with a thud. No one could believe he'd actually done that, but Tala simply stepped over his prone form and sat in one of the chairs, his eyes glaring at them to listen to him and to sit down.

"You been playing with _my _drugs recently brother?" Bryan hissed as he pushed himself up.

"Shut up, and sit down. Unless you want _me _ to drop you too." Kai ordered, sitting across from his best friend. The three did as they were told, and as they waited for Michaels and Christopher to show up, they glared at each other in annoyance. The door opened and the men walked in, noticing their lack of Anna right away.

"Red threw a temper tantrum and Anna's in the time out chair somewhere." Bryan hissed by way of explanation.

"Close your mouth Kutznetsov." Kai's voice was low and authoritative. He meant it.

"Sir, yes sir." The falcon blader muttered sarcastically, clearly irritated. The meeting basically was about what had happened. A few questions were asked, just to clarify things, and from there Michaels affirmed that Anna's mission had in fact been a success...despite the terrible escape that had occurred. All of the data she'd stolen was enough to start building their own BD Server, and all of their other information had been enough to start putting a very harsh criminal side to everything Boris was doing.

Names and files and information that was proof of certain dealings that were not legal at all. When the man dared to say that what they'd done had been a good thing though, Tala actually growled. His fists were clutched tightly and it looked like he would rather eat a barrel of worms then redo what he'd done that day. Live worms at that. He stood up sharply, and walked right out of the room. A few people protested, but Kai told them to leave it. Tala needed time to breathe, and they needed to let him do so. Anger and frustration was going to get them no where.

Of course, what they hadn't planned on was that not three turns down the hallway later, just as he was about to reach the elevator, was Anna. Her back leaned up against the wall, her dark eyes looking at him softly as he rounded the bend. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes took in her face. Her lips parted, and he watched as her throat started to sound out a word. His gun was up in a second and he fired.

The girl had thrown herself to the floor just in time to miss getting nailed in the head, but her leg was suddenly covered in blood as she tore the stitches someone had carefully put around her wound. She gripped it for a moment in shock before looking up at him with wide eyes. Footsteps were running down the hall, but he didn't care he caught her by the throat and pointed his gun straight at her head. "Why the hell won't you just DIE?" he shouted, tears forming in his eyes.

She gasped against his hold, one of her hands struggling to pull his hand away from her neck. His eyes focused on that hand. Blood. He gasped, eyes growing wide as he stared at the blood that was falling from her fingers. He threw himself back, his gun falling from his hand. She looked at him in dumb shock, but his eyes were staring at her blood. Voices were coming closer. She stared at him just as he stared at her blood stained hands. She raised her hand and she slammed it hard into her arm, breaking the stitches there too.

He felt sweat falling from his brow, she sat there in front of him bleeding from injuries he'd given her, he looked at her body and he felt his own start to shake. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't stare at her. He could take her sitting there _bleeding! _ "Stop it!" He raised his hands to his head. He had been trained to kill her. Before she could even say a word he was supposed to shoot her. He had to kill her. He had to kill her. She was bleeding. She couldn't move. She was trapped. He could kill her. He just had to raise that gun and shoot. His hand snapped out to grab it, and those footsteps were screaming louder. He needed to kill them first...he needed to make sure nothing interrupted this. He whipped around, aimed the gun at his brother who stood before him with an expectant look on his face, and he froze.

There were others there, other people from the office, but it seemed like he didn't see them. His eyes were locked on Kai's red ones. The younger teen moved forwards slowly, walking quietly towards him. Tala's fingers drew back the safety the closer he walked, but He didn't seem to notice or care. "You gonna kill me Tala?" The boy flinched. "Come on. Wake up. You've been in a daze for so long now that it's pathetic. You think that you're the one at fault for all the bad that's been going on lately? Give it a rest you big baby. All you're doing is acting like a drama queen." Kai felt the gun press against his forehead and he snorted. "What, is that your answer for everything? Give me a break, you've done nothing but lash out for far too long and you know what, you're just running away. You're running away from everything that's going on in the real world and you're pushing those that love you away because you're too stubborn to admit you're not superman and you can't do everything by yourself. Cut me some slack bro I know you like the back of my hand. For once, stop running away and ask for help like the person I know you are!"

Echoes from the past. Had it really been over five years since he had said those words to Kai? Had it really been over five years since Kai had been the one on the ground, grieving, and he had been there to hold out his hand? Tala felt tears start to fall down his face. He looked at his brother who sat across from him with no fear at all. He had no doubt in his mind that Tala wouldn't pull that trigger. Everyone was watching them, Anna not to far away, was being helped back onto her feet by Spencer who was asking if she was alright. She nodded to him and thanked him, but it was distracted. All eyes were on Tala and Kai.

They never once took their eyes off each other. Christopher moved forward, and while the red head was silent and motionless, he pressed a needle into his neck. Tala's eyes widened with fright at the sudden feeling. He hadn't been aware enough to see the man doing it. He flailed backwards, struggling to get away, he screamed. Kai caught him quickly, knocking the gun out of his hand as he pulled him to his chest. The boy's fighting was lessening, the drug in his body making him slow down, but he was fighting still. He didn't want to be there. He wanted to just _leave! _ Kai glared up at him furiously, the others also glaring at him.

"He was unstable I had no choice-" Christopher was trying to explain himself, but he never got the chance.

"He wasn't unstable, he was terrified! He wasn't going to shoot me you idiot!" Kai shouted as he held his fading brother closer to him.

"He had his hand on the trigger, he could have-"

"He couldn't shoot Kai even if it killed him." Ian snapped, his arms folding over his chest. Christopher blanched, looking at all the people who were glaring at him with hatred. Even Michaels didn't seem too pleased.

"What were you thinking, doing something like that? That boy's been through enough trauma without having you knocking him out like that!" He hissed quietly.

"I'm going to find some place to lay him down." Kai muttered, still visibly seething, but by now Tala's weak hands were clutching at his shirt and his head was lolling back unwillingly.

The screen faded, and when it came back, Tala was laying on a cot in a small room. His hands were tied to the bed for some reason, probably something Christopher had demanded on until they could get a psych-eval on him. No one was there except for Anna. She was sitting by his bedside, waiting patiently. Slowly, blue eyes fluttered open, and when they caught sight of her, he gasped, tugging his hands up. They were held down though and panic filled his chest. He fought tooth and nail, he needed to get out, he needed to get free!

"Luka...Luka! Listen to me. I'll let you go if you promise you wont do anything reckless." Anna told him sincerely. She was looking at him with such eyes. He nodded, he couldn't deny her anything. She reached forwards and pulled at the bonds that were keeping him down, and when they came free, he sat upright, looking around him blearily. "How do you feel?" He looked at her now, taking in her face and her body. Someone had gotten her something to wear, she wasn't blood stained any longer.

"I shot you." He told her as though she didn't already know, but she nodded anyway.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what to do to make her believe him, but he didn't have to do anything.

"I forgive you. I told you then didn't I? I didn't blame you then, and I don't now." He nodded slowly, looking at her with blank eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I can't do this Anna." He told her, feeling his body start to shake. "I can't do this anymore."

"Alright." She moved towards him, sitting beside him on the bed. He looked up at her with such a broken expression. Her arms wrapped around him and she hugged him lovingly. "Do you want to go?" He hesitated.

"Go where?"

"Away...away from here. Away from all of this. Do you want to go?" He looked up at her. He thought of everything that had happened recently and in the past. He thought about everything that was wrong with this life. He thought about all the reasons why, at this point, he could care less if Boris destroyed the world, and with finality and little hesitation, he nodded.

"Yes."

_  
Where in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door of my cottage in the Western night._

**Windstar: **That's the end of that. I will be making a side story that will be a companion piece to OTT. It's called "When you get a squeeze give a squeeze." I know the title doesn't make sense now, but it will when/if you read it. Once more, a futuristic look on OTT that takes place between this and the sequel that is in the making is already out and called "Operation Desert Storm." I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it took me a while but it was exactly what I wanted it to be. Tell me what you think, and I'll update as soon as I can - next week if I can help it!


	19. Spawn of the Devil

**Windstar: **This is, admittedly, the shortest chapter thus far, and my reasoning for it: It's really freaking hard to write filler chapters. Wasting time takes forever to do...it's like a waste of time...but in all honesty, I don't think it would be as poignant to have the characters in a crisis one day and then say "seven months later" and have everything be fine again. I know I did a lot of time skipping, but that's the basis of the story and right now it's important to waste time.

My favorite OC so far, or at least the funnest for me to write, is introduced in this fanfiction and I'm hoping people aren't to upset when the meet him. Writing this character is like a breath of fresh air, and though his "screen time" is limited, it's enough to make me fall in love with him. In all honesty, this character was first created in a fanfiction I wrote several months ago and never put online. I loved him so much, and I loved the story behind him so much, that I flubbed a little and put him in this one too. I probably will never put his original story up - it really wasn't all that great, but for all intents and purposes I like him right where he is, and where he belongs.

As a notice, he doesn't play all that big of a role in this story, he's more of just introduced. In the sequel however he's got a bunch of big parts and he's awesome all the way around in my opinion, so if you don't like him you're just going to have to live with it.

On that note, I want to take this time to say just how much I love Mikhail too. Mikhail was actually never a brain child of mine. I had intended to have him be a character that just was a nuisance in their childhood and let him just vanish as time goes on, but in my head he just kept getting written into scenes in moments. That last conversation with Tala in the previous chapter for instance was a completely random late entry that I think fits in perfectly.

Mikhail really has made himself a character of this story, and it seems like the next four chapters are more or less focused on his adventures as well, I know some people are iffy on the OCs and their involvement, but I can promise you that this story is focused on the broad picture and it's important to note that the characters in the TV show don't live in bubbles and that they did coexist with other people - they weren't complete loners! OCs are important to a fanfiction in general but they need a life of their own and they can't be flat. I think Mikhail, Anna, and the other OCs that I've created are all people that could actually exist in the story line and make sense on the whole. It's at this moment I'd like to thank a new reviewer that posted a BEAUTIFUL comment last week.

Marieke16 said : "normally I despise them [OCs], but yours seem to fit in perfectly with the story and I have to admid that I'm growing verry fond of Anya" That meant so much to me, you have no idea! I was all ready to send you a lovely letter that answered all your questions, but you weren't logged on as a member so I couldn't. So I'm going to answer all your questions right here!

First of all: In this fanfiction not much is going to be talked about in regards to Anna and Tala's relationship. The two of them in this are only being observed really by cameras and besides that one kiss scene I threw in, there aren't exactly cameras in restaurants and things of that nature to have many fluffy moments. I do have to say one thing: while this fanfiction probably won't have many fluffy moments in it (I'll throw them in where I can since you asked so nicely :) ) the sequel and any interlude-esque fics WILL have them. For instance, the side fic that is based on the time away from the Abbey will have a lot of moments in it. The sequel is going to be jammed packed with them, a fic that's already been posted -"Operation Desert Storm" has one as a flash back in it when they're talking about Anna (then again that fic is mostly rather depressing). I have to apologize, it's just that since it's such a tightly packed way of recording information I can't exactly have a truly fluff-tastic moment.

Secondly: Actually there is a reason I chose Luka, and funnily enough you hit the nail on the head. I can honestly say (since I'm ten chapters ahead writing wise) that I wrote out the reason already in a future chapter so I can't fully specify here or I'll spoil it! But the reason does exist and it's pretty lame to be honest. So look for it in the future (Chapter twenty-one)

Thirdly: I know it's not ideal, but Tala and Anna are not engaged. They are not getting married either. There it no talk on the table now or in the future - even in the sequel I don't really have any set plan on their marital life. The two of them are going to be heading in for a bumpy road so if you really like their relationship I have to say that you'll like the side stories that are going to come out (probably not Operation Desert Storm though) and you'll want to read the sequel.

I know that must have been the longest AN in the history of my ANs but it was important, thank you all for reviewing and now onto the story!

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Ian pressed the door open to the room Tala should have been in, but the sight that met him was one that he hadn't even possibly considered. His eyes grew wide, and he took a few steps inside, just to convince himself that he wasn't seeing things.

Nothing met his gaze. Absolutely nothing. There was no one there, and there was no one anywhere nearby. He would have thought he'd walked into the wrong room, or at least that they would still be somewhere, but there was a letter resting on the pillow.

He moved towards it, his fingers picking up the piece of paper. The camera had not a hope in the world of being able to read it, but from the look on Ian's face, he hadn't exactly been surprised. He sighed heavily and turned around, walking back out of the room without even giving it a second glance. The screen faded and when it came back, Michaels was on a rampage.

"What do you mean, they're gone!?" Kai was leaning up against the nearest wall looking particularly disinterested. He didn't seem to care about what he was hearing about, and in all honesty, the others didn't seem to concerned either.

"They're gone." Ian mumbled, holding up the letter as proof. "I just checked the security feeds, they left about half an hour ago. They're not even in the building anymore." Michaels grabbed the letter and scowled angrily.

"This doesn't even say where they went.' _Sorry to leave without saying goodbye, we had to go. Love L&A,' _Do they have any idea how stupid they are?! They're fifteen-"

"Anna's seventeen, she'll be eighteen next month." Kai said simply enough, looking at the man with a firm look on his face.

"That has nothing to do with anything!" He turned towards the others. "What languages does Anna speak?" Not Tala, Tala knew to many to narrow it down. The others though were silent. They had nothing to say. "Someone say something!"

"At eighteen Anna can get a job pretty much anywhere, she has a bank account with all her pay from the ISA and BBASS, and Luka has his own as well. They have six years worth of pay that haven't been touched, so they'll be fine for quite some time. They're not stupid. If anyone could actually pull off being by themselves it's them. I don't see the problem with letting them leave." Kai intoned softly, he wasn't going to say just how many languages the girl had picked up on since her five year stay had started. He was practically advocating the 'run away from everything' policy.

"For one, Korg can't build the Server by himself, and for two – they both are still on active duty. They'll be put down as AWOL, _and _if anyone discovers who Tala actually is do you realize what could happen to them!? Boris will be hunting him, and probably Anna too considering the fact that she made off with all his information. Together they're just _asking _for someone to kill them." Michaels was absolutely seething with rage.

"Look, I get the fact that you're pissed off about them leaving, but if they'd stayed things only would have gotten worse. Anna at least is grounded enough to make sure that nothing happens to him-"

"It's _him _I'm worried about! The last time he even saw that girl he tried to kill her, and Christopher's right – he had that gun aimed at you!"

"He wasn't going to shoot me and we all knew it. He didn't shoot Anna either-"

"He tried to!"

"He tried to but he didn't. Clearly whatever happened while we were gone had fixed up their issue, but you know what, he's in too much pain right now to deal with things. You can't have expected him to be able to do this forever, he's fifteen years old and it shouldn't be his responsibility to play the willing punching bag. That's not fair. He's allowed to finally say that he can't deal with things anymore, and he's allowed to leave. No one, not even you, are going to force him to do something he doesn't want to do."

"You know where they're going?" Michaels took a threatening step towards him, and the three others looked at the two with growing concern on how this was starting to turn out.

"I have a guess."

"Where?"

"Aren't you a head of an intelligence agency? You tell me." For a moment it looked like Michaels was going to hit him. He was shaking visibly from rage. "That boy is unstable, and if he has another nervous breakdown-"

"He's not going to have a nervous breakdown."

"Why? Because _Anna's _watching him?! He's a fifteen year old kid who can get away with things because he looks just like a kid. He's not a kid though, he's capable of killing multiple people without even batting an eye and you think _now, _while he's suffering from PTSD, it's the best time to have him out with a girl he just happened to try to kill before!?"

"Who are you worried about here _Tristen_? Is it Luka or Anna? Or is it your job that's at stake if your little _pet _does something wrong?!"

"He's not my pet, none of you are." The man reasoned quickly.

"Well that's how you're treating us! Let him live his life. If he comes back, he comes back, if not, then deal with it, and if you really want to find them then go ahead and start looking because you wont do it that easily. Remember, Anna was the one who covered all our tracks whenever we were on missions."

The scene faded, and when it came back, the boys were back in the Abbey, and there was a distinct lack of Tala. Clearly they hadn't caught him yet. Boris was standing over them, looking slightly miffed but not all that surprised. He motioned for them to go to their rooms and he scowled faintly as he looked back and Tala was no where to be found.

From there it seemed like life was moving on. They went to classes just like they used to, they went through training sessions just like they used to, only now the very mention of the two run aways was taboo.

They needed to come up with some way to keep in the tournament though, or the Maims were going to be taking their spot. One member down meant that they needed to have a flawless record with never losing if they wanted to even think about competing. The answer though, was simple.

Kai would take Tala's spot if there were any tournaments that needed to happen. Voltaire offered his grandson up willingly, however he said that Kai was running a lead on Sacred Bit Beasts that have an extraordinary amount of power. According to Voltaire, Kai had always been the back up for the team, a reserve member that would only play for them on the off chance that something went wrong.

In theory, he'd been on the team the last two world championships, as a reserve blader and therefore not needed to be at the actual tournament. In theory, Kai too had two world titles under his belt. The news wasn't all that surprising to the watchers, from the way Kai had been acting, he'd always been complaining about wanting to keep up his title...a title that didn't make sense for him to have unless he'd already won.

Even if he hadn't actually bladed, his team had bladed. Boris jumped on the chance to get Kai back to the Abbey, but he never left. Instead, Voltaire announced that a Sacred Bit Beast had been found in Japan, and that Kai was going to take it from whoever held it.

It was that part that was rather interesting. They didn't expect Tala to come back, and in all honesty, neither could the watchers believe he actually had. He'd come back willingly or been dragged back against his will, but nobody had thought it would happen. Kai was supposed to join up with the Demolition Boys as a member of their team after figuring out what was happening with the other Sacred Spirits. If he had to, he'd leave the team at the championships – something that annoyed the watchers greatly. He'd been planning on ditching them from the start.

Even the creation of the Blade Sharks had been focused on the eventual confrontation between Tyson and Kai. Kai must have been following Tyson for quite some time, setting things up from the background and making things happen for the possibility of having Tyson rise up and defeat him.

Then there was Max. Max had gone to Japan of all places after his parents' divorce. Of all the places in the world, he landed in the one spot that had another Sacred Spirit. If Kai had known that, then it hadn't been when all of this was being planned. Though the coincidence was to high for anyone to really believe it. Clearly someone must have put some pressure on Max's father in order to have the move take place. That someone, logically being Mr. Dickenson...he'd helped the two set up shop and everything in Tokyo...within walking distance of Tyson's house conveniently enough.

Boris questioned what Kai's effectiveness would be without any training for so long, but Voltaire waved him off and told him simply that he would be acceptable and be without fail. He didn't tell him that him that the boy wouldn't be succeeding for his side though... Mikhail seemed rather irritated when he saw that Tala hadn't returned though.

He looked at Bryan intently, trying to read the boy's face, but the other wasn't saying anything. Though when he noticed the distinct lack of misery that should have surrounded the three returnees, he seemed to accept that Tala was just gone and not...._gone..._

Boris' patience had thinned greatly though when it came to the Demolition Boys. Gone were the days where he was slightly concerned with them being to badly damaged. If they were _to _badly damaged they couldn't blade in the tournaments. Now they were already a fractured team, it wouldn't be all to hard to replace them with the Maims.

The three were swatted at more often then not, the only reason they really weren't displaced, because few could believe Boris would keep them without a reason, was the fact that it was only with that team would Kai be brought back. If the Maims transferred in on the rotation, then Kai would stay in Japan and out of his grubby little hands.

Bryan sighed heavily and leaned back against the wall holding the door to the roof. Mikhail sat next to him, taking a few drags from his cigarette and looking rather thoughtful and pretty much silent. He glanced over at his friend who had yet to make a comment on the red head's disapearance.

"You're oddly okay with all of this." Bryan mumbled motioning back towards the door.

"What? With Red's vanishing act? I was under the impression you wanted me to stop saying things about him."

"Since when did you listen to what I wanted?"

"Since you've become my _very best friend_." Mikhail snorted as he flicked some ashes off his stick. "Quit bullshitting, what's on your mind?"

"What makes you think I'm thinking anything about Red?"

"Cause I know how you think."

"Then you know _what _I'm thinking and there's no point in me answering."

"Mikhail quit evading."

"If Red couldn't take it...it's better he's not here." He said simply, not meeting Bryan's gaze. Bryan was staring at him in dumb shock. He couldn't say anything. The response had been so completely backwards that he didn't quite know what to do or to say. Mikhail was looking at him cooly, taking in his reaction in silence. "What?" He asked after a while.

"You actually..."

"If you start with some dumb ass chick flick moment then I'm going to throw you off the roof. Shut you fucking mouth." The other scowled, clearly annoyed with everything.

"That was the nicest thing you ever said about him." Mikhail growled low in his throat and he stood up and started towards the door. Bryan hopped up, a shit eating grin on his face. "You don't really hate him do you?"

"Shut your trap." He was stalking down the stairs.

"No wonder Tala never got truly pissed at you, even that day you were picking a fight with him he never rose to the challenge. You two actually are pretty close huh?"

"_Bryan. _That roof is only four feet away." He snapped, looking at him with a look of pure rage, but it was an empty threat. Everyone who was watching knew it.

The brunette was twenty one years old by now. Four years older then Spencer and Bryan and five years older then Kai and Tala. He was the oldest of them all now, the Hazards had graduated to becoming guards around the Abbey, and he knew one day soon he'd be told to do the same. He was to old to compete in the tournaments, everyone knew that (though some people were in denial and he looked young enough to lie about his age if he had to). He was taller then Bryan of course, and far broader. All in all, Mikhail no longer even looked like one of the Abbey's famous beyblading students, he was an adult and he was more then capable of dealing with things on his own terms. The fact that Bryan got away with riling him up, or that they even spent time with each other was astounding. The two looked completely mismatched as friends, their ages were so far apart.

He ditched the falcon wielder somewhere along the way, and the cameras apparently followed him as he moved through the halls, deep in thought. Clearly his relationship with Tala had been a little exaggerated, and the hate that they seemingly had for each other wasn't really hate at all. Tala didn't really mind Mikhail ever picking on him, except for that one time when he'd gone so far as to mention his mother, but other then that Tala had always just turned the other cheek. Mikhail seemed to want nothing except to pick on Tala, and yet that night that he had gone to talk to him, if anything that was proof alone that the man didn't completely hate the younger teen.

He was apart from them in that sense. He never tried to be Tala's friend, and he never tried to be his enemy really, he just always seemed to act like he was. It was strange, and yet at the same time, it showed the depths of his character. Mikhail was not inherently evil, he, like Tala, always had another reason for doing the things that they did. Perhaps that was why he could understand Tala better than anyone else, has always been able too, and has always shown he knew what to do about it. He knew before everyone that Tala easily accepted punishment in the place of others. He knew before everyone else just what it was that needed to be said to him to make him calm down, and he knew better then anyone else the pain that went along with being the cause of someone else's death.

It was easy to hate Mikhail. Mikhail was always trying to get people to do so. He liked being by himself and doing his own thing, and he was neither extremely talented at beyblading or any of the other tasks and missions that he was supposed to do. Somehow though, it was hard to believe that. Boris wouldn't keep someone substandard in the Abbey, and never once did Mikhail ever lose- that much was obvious as he would have been in the pit had he. So he must have some skill that was kept hidden, just as he kept hidden his intentions on things.

There was a flicker up ahead of him, and Mikhail stopped walking, his eyes narrowing on it. The others saw it too, but it was too dim to see what it was. He took a few steps forwards, looking closely at the movement that was just twenty feet in front of him. It looked to be some kind of dog or animal. It was short and close to the ground, darkish red in color. He frowned heavily, and stalked it. It moved once more and he shot his hand out and caught it just as it looked like it would escape. What he found though, was neither a dog nor another animal that had snuck into the Abbey. It was a child. Perhaps no older then three years of age, and he was squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

For a moment Mikhail didn't quite know what to do with the upstart. He never really dealt with the younger children of the Abbey. He tended to just work with the older teens. What this one was doing out and about on his own was curious though. He picked him up so they were eye level, but the boy was refusing to open his eyes. Bronze hair was now detectable in the dim lighting, and he observed the features of the boy closely. Familiar somehow, and yet not. He couldn't quite place where he'd seen such features before.

"What _are _you doing?" He asked when the boy still didn't open his eyes. It looked like he was wishing really hard for something.

"Shhh! You can't see me!" The boy hissed, frowning at him as he covered his eyes with his hands.

"What on earth are you going on about?" He was not in a good mood as it was and he didn't want to deal with this little bundle of weirdness after finally ditching Bryan.

"If I can't see you you can't see me! I'm in...in...invince-able!"

"Invisible." He corrected with a slight laugh.

"Yep!" The boy giggled and opened his brown eyes, looking at Mikhail excitedly. "I'm Kiril!"

"Oh are you now. Where are you barracks..._Kiril_?" The boy frowned and shook his head.

"I don' know what a bare-rack is."

"Where are you supposed to be?" Little lips formed a perfect frown that he winced at, the child was certainly getting more familiar by the moment, but he still couldn't place just where he'd seen the boy before.

"Wit mama, but mama sleepy! I's bored!" That made the man start.

"Your mother's here?" He never heard of _that _before. He must be one of the scientist's kids. If she was sleeping on the job, she was going to get into some serious trouble, especially if her son was running around.

"Not _here. _Near here." He was pointing around everywhere while he kicked his feet out excitedly, seemingly very entertained by the fact his feet weren't touching the ground any longer.

"In the Abbey?" Mikhail clarified as the boy giggled slightly.

"Downstairs. I sneaked out. Mama's gonna be mad." Little Kiril looked slightly concerned for a moment, then seemed to think better of it and giggled again.

"You should go back to your mama then. You'll be in trouble if you stay out here."

"Thas what mama said, but I want to see da pretty circle."

"What pretty circle?" The boy frowned as though Mikhail had just asked a very foolish question, his eyes showing just how just he thought of Mikhail's confusion. Clearly he wasn't very impressed by the fact that he had no idea what he was talking about. "Da circle with the aminals on it."

"Animals." He corrected again, more out of habit than anything else – after all he had been raised with babies before he came to the Abbey all those years ago. He was used to correcting speech.

"I's got colors and pointies on it. Mama won' let me play wit them."

"A beyblade?" The boy was nodding excitedly and was holding out his hand as though Mikhail was going to just give him one right then and there. He did actually reach into his pocket and show him his beyblade, if only to clarify the confusion.

"Mine!" The boy reached for it, but Mikhail held him out even farther and with a far more amused look on his features. The child was strangely endearing considering what normal children in this Abbey were like. He could all to well remember Tala and Kai when they'd first come back from the Abbey. They were dark and depressing and they had a constant aura of black that surrounded everything around them. This child though was un touched by all of that. He was innocent...and he was clearly not a child that was one of Boris' chosen few.

"Not yours. Mine." He found himself sinking to the petulant behaviour of the three year old, and the boy looked at him with such a scandalized expression.

"I want it."

"You can't have it."

"But it's pretty!"

"Get your own."

"Mama won't let me!"

"Tough luck isn't it. Better luck next time. Where's your mama, I'll drop you off personally."

"No no, you can't! You not supp-osed to see me 'member?"

"Oh right. You're invisible."

"Right. Now put me down, gots to be invisible again or else _he'll _be mad."

"Who's he?"

"My papa...my mama don't like my papa very much. She cry whenever dey talk."

"Who's your papa?" A guard at the Abbey perhaps? Maybe scientist in the lab? They were all warped.

"Boar-is." "

_Boris is your father?"_ He could barely see the resemblance apart from the so similar dark eyes. The child was far to full of life and vitality to be anything related to _that _monster. The watchers blanched, they couldn't believe it. Boris had a son, and the child was right in front of them on that screen. He was nothing like his father, and he was nothing like a normal student from the Abbey. He was all together far to light and innocent for that.

"Yeah..." The boy didn't look all to happy with that news. He frowned slightly and his bangs fell into his face a little bit with that action. "I don' like him eider....he yells and says bad words dad Mama said I can't say until I'm older."

"Yeah I'll bet...." Then something seemed to click at the same time for Mikhail that it seemed to click in for the rest of the watchers. If little Kiril was Boris' son...than that meant that he was also Tala's younger brother. Half or no, it didn't matter, the two were related. With that information, it suddenly became very obvious who Kiril looked like. His bronze hair was darker by far then Tala's flaming locks of fire, but his little face was almost identical to Tala's when he was a child. The same round features and the same perky nose. Even the size was similar, it was so strange to think of Tala with a blood relative, let alone a little brother not even half his age.

The boy, though, radiated the same innocence that Tala had as a child. That same willingness to believe in everything, and that light that was so hard to squelch. The child was almost a miniature copy of the teen, with so much life and love and happiness...not yet tarnished by the world around him. Kiril was the before while Tala was the after...and a very sad after at that. Tala's story wasn't a happy one, and it steered wrong just around the age that Kiril was at now. The watchers felt their hearts go out to the little boy.

They hadn't seen him at the hospital, they hadn't heard anyone talking about him. They hadn't even seen him at the tournament. For a brief moment, they wondered where the child was now...if he escaped the Abbey with his mother, and he was free just like all the others who should have been emancipated at the end of the tournament. The little boy was heart touchingly endearing and he was so small and gentle that the watchers found themselves feeling all the more concerned for the child.

It was obvious that Mikhail did too, for he looked rather stumped as to how he should continue at this point. He clearly didn't want to let the child go off and wander around the Abbey by himself, and he clearly didn't want to take the child back to his father or his mother (whoever she may be). Either option would probably not end up to good for him. He sighed heavily and placed the boy back on his feet, before looking around. The best option out of them all was to simply make sure the child returned to his mother, and then sneak away as fast as he could so that no one noticed that he was where he wasn't supposed to be. That way, at least he could ensure the boy got to safety quickly enough, and he wouldn't (hopefully) run into too much trouble along the way.

"I'm going to take you back to your mama, and then I'm going to go alright. You can't be here." The boy sighed heavily, clearly understanding that his fun was over. He didn't like the idea of going back, but he knew that he couldn't possibly out run the older male.

"Okay...can I hold the bey-thingie though?" He held up his hand and Mikhail sighed before placing his blade in the boy's palm.

"It's sharp." He warned, but not before the child cut his fingers on it. The boy let out an ear-piercing scream as the blade clattered to the floor and Mikhail groaned, slamming his hand on the boy's mouth to stifle the sound. Fat tears were falling from his eyes and he looked miserable.

"Silence! That didn't hurt to bad, shut up and get over it." Sure enough the tears faded away quickly enough, little brown eyes filled with anger now though. He didn't look at all to happy with his partner in crime. He wiped the tears from his face with a scowl.

"You not supp-osed to say dat!"

"What? 'Shut up?' Deal with it squirt. Not even you can make me stop cursing." The boy glared up at him and spun on his heel, moving back down the hall without his borrowed blade. Mikhail scooped it up and placed it in his pocket before following the child down the halls and the stairs. He had to admit, and so did the watchers, this boy certainly knew how to sneak past guards and other people. He clearly had some practice in this. He was moving like a pro, and it was ironic to think that he was mirroring the actions of his older brother from years before when _that _little red head ran through the halls at the most inappropriate of times, sneaking past guards and the like.

The halls and doors though were starting to look familiar to the watchers. They had seen these exact traps and slips before. They had watched the exact same paths be taken countless times. The excitement that had been running through the boys who would eventually grow up to be the Demolition Boys had been rushing through their viens. They had snuck across these very halls when they were younger... And that meant that the destination was clear. Perhaps not to Mikhail, who had been at the Abbey after the changes in rooms had taken place, but to the watchers it was obvious.

They were going to the dungeons that had once been home to all the students of the Abbey. Tala and Kai's small cell that they shared as children came to their minds. The two little boys that were closer then the closest of brothers had met and befriended each other in those dungeons. They had slinked through the bars – that clearly hadn't been fixed – and they met Bryan, Spencer, and Ian. They had become friends with all those children because of this dungeon that they were now descending to. Kiril's home...his mother's home...was the dungeons of the Abbey. Whoever the boy's mother was, she was a captive just like the rest of them. She was not there on her own will. She was there with Kiril because they were Boris' property. To him, they were his belongings.

Kiril pushed open the door to the dungeon and he slipped inside it, Mikhail following his footsteps, his eyes scanning the empty cells he hadn't even known existed. Well, that's not true. He had heard about them. He knew they existed...he hadn't known they were still in use. He just figured that all the kids had rooms, and all the failures had the Pit. There was nothing to suggest that this place was used for anything except for storage...and perhaps it still was. Only the storage was living and clearly capable of giving birth. Kiril was skipping down the halls, not even noticing Mikhail's curious looks. He just moved forward easily enough without having any concerns.

Then, after he reached the end of the cell block, Kiril glanced back, waved, and slipped into a cell – right between the bars. Mikhail hesitated. He remembered Kiril telling him that he needed to be invisible, no one was supposed to know who was down here, or that there _was _anyone down here. Yet his curiosity got to the best of him, and he slowly started to move forwards, if only to see who it was that was being imprisoned. He took one step and then another, his eyes scanning over the bars and the dankness of the dark room. There was only one light every twenty feet, the whole hall was very dark and very hard to see in.

Still though, Mikhail pressed onwards, his eyes focusing in the dark. He heard her voice first. It was soft and tired. She sounded exhausted, and it certainly seemed like Kiril hadn't been lying when he said that his mother had been sleeping. She sounded weak and frail though, like a butterfly with its wings pinned down. Still alive, and yet broken and dying at the same time. For what was life without the ability to fly?

"You've made me so worried Kiril...where have you been?" She whispered softly, and he could just see the body of a woman holding the child in her small arms. She looked so tiny compared to Boris. She looked like she would break if he tried to touch her. Perhaps she would.

"I wanted to see the pretty circle, and I met a friend who had one!" The child replied excitedly.

"Oh baby, you didn't _speak _to anyone did you?"

"Just me ma'am." Mikhail found himself whispering. He wanted her to turn around so he could look at her. He wanted her to glance up and acknowledge him. He wanted to see what Boris' biggest and darkest secret was. He wanted to watch her face as it turned to see him. Yet when it did, he felt his blood run cold. He felt his eyes widen, and he felt his heart stop. There was no denying whose face _that _was. There was no denying it at all. His breath caught in his throat and he took a frantic step backwards.

The woman's lips were moving, he couldn't hear the words, he was to focused on her eyes and her hair, and her face. He was shivering suddenly, as though there were ghosts walking on his grave, and before he knew it, he was running away. He was running up the stairs and down the hall and out of the sight of the woman who had turned around to simply thank him for bringing her son home to her. He fell over when he got up to the bathrooms.

Vomit forming in his mouth as he tried to collect himself. He was going to be sick, and thankfully the video didn't show it, but what was very obvious was who that woman was, and if that was the case...what did that mean for that young lonely and broken teenager who had lost all contact with the Abbey because of _her _death?


	20. White Lady

**Windstar: **Well here we are at chapter nineteen. Again, slightly short, but in all honesty it's over seven thousand so I expect no complaints! I have to tank all of my amazing reviewrs for their kind and loving supprot. specially the new reviewers who I've recieed fresh reviews from. They were awesome and I truly loved them! Thanks so much for you kind words.

Looks like it was a good cliff hanger because no one guessed right. It doesn't matter thought because this chapter explains all. Kiril's back in this chapter, and he'll be hanging around for another few or so before disappearing until the end of the fic. He's not all that important to this story line and in all honesty I threw him in so that I could use him in the sequel.

I've just gotten finished reading Tokyo Babylon and X-1999 from CLAMP, and I have to say: talk about depressing story lines, and I thought mine were sad? I was dumbfounded. I mean, first one character is practically driven insane because they fell in love with someone only to find out that that person was really just playing a mind game on them and then proceeded to murder their twin sister. Then that character realizes he's still in love with this person and so instead of seeking his revenge he wants to simply die at the man's hands! Then there's another character who watches his lady love be driven insane by the multiple images of women they've known being ripped apart by threads, and that woman is killed in the same manner after being stabbed in the heart by her brother who was the original character's good friend. Then that brother ends up being the bad guy who practically slices and dices the protagainist the whole story. Talk about a horrible ending, these books are nothing but tragedies!

I would like to take this time to say that this story is NOT a tragedy. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is not going to be depressing incarnate for the whole time. Also, I've started writing the interlude that takes place during Anna and Tala's absense. At nearly four chapters, it's turning out nicely. It's tied in heavily with the play Les Miserables, and in a way I suppose it could be considered a song fic though it's not focused on the songs more the actually story line. Look for it at the end of this arc (if I post it now it'll ruin a character's beautiful enterance to the story!)

I also have to make another comment that I'd like some feedback on. I have already predestined couples and pairs and partners in this story and there is little anyone can do to change my mind on it. The existence of Anna though is something that I'm basing much of those pairings off of. Anna is in many ways the person that I imagine to be ideal to Tala, and it is something that took me a while in investigating his psyche with.

In the interlude story, which was formerly going to be called "Get a squeeze give a squeeze" but considering how vague and rather...lewd...that sounds I have renamed "The Pulse," Anna plays a huge role in Tala's life. If you like angst with a HUGE amount of fluff (by the way this story is dedicated to my best friend in the whole world who is insistant on my lack of ability to actually write a fluff fic. I've written this story entirely with the purposes of spiting her.) that's the story for you. I need to know though, what you believe Anna's traits are and her strengths in their relationship. I have a solid idea of it, but you as the readers are the ones who take what I write and formulate an opinion off of it. I need you to tell me yourselves what you think about our girl. If you can tell me that, then I'll be able to write a fic that I hope will be a great companion to this. (Also be warned The Pulse is an OC HEAVY story. It has to be for the purposes of it. We all know that in this story line the boys are in the Abbey, everyone doesn't know where they are, and Kai is in Japan. That being said, the only true character in the story will be Tala and Kai _may _show up but will not be a huge presence in the fic as a whole. I know some people are turned off by OCs, but I'm doing my best here, this is actually a rather complicated story and you'll understand once you start up.)

Please comment about your takes on Anna and her strengths and weaknesses towards Tala, this fic is meant to be specific to the fans and how they precieve their relationship - as if it isn't complex enough as it is. Thanks in advance and I look forward to your ideas!

**Chapter Nineteen:**

The date declared that two months had passed, and it seemed like Mikhail had not returned to the dungeons or seen Kiril since that time. He had pushed all thoughts of that day to the back of his mind, and he refused to even think a little about it. He moved on with his day the same as everyone else did and he adamantly stood against thinking about things that should be best left ignored.

Bryan, Spencer, and Ian though were having a rough time of things. They were looking worn out and thin, and Tala was no where in sight. He was gone, and there was no hopes in him coming back. The three went to their bimonthly meetings, and nothing came from them. Nobody had found the couple that had literally vanished into thin air.

Anna had bought over fourty different plane and train tickets to all over the world, and from there she bought ten tickets to leave from all those locations. She knew how to lose a tail, and she seemed to have collected the money that it took to pull off such an expensive way of doing things. As far as the boys had last heard, the ISA thought she was somewhere in California in a two bedroom beach house in the sun. Then again, only two weeks before that she had been in Greenland buying sweaters off her credit card. As for Tala, there was nothing. His bank statements revealed nothing. There was nothing left to find or to see. He was as gone as the wind. For all they knew, he was dead. There wasn't so much as a mention of red hair shampoo or anything from the copious expenses that Anna was littering the world with.

The Demolition Boys were slightly beyond caring too, clearly Anna had an idea on how to keep herself hidden and safe, and most importantly she knew how to keep Tala safe. So as far as they were concerned, they were happy she could just continue living the way she was living and hoping that Tala was with her. If he wasn't with her...then he was so far off the radar that it wasn't even funny.

Kai, surprisingly enough, was the one that had been put in charge of locating them though. Perhaps it was a stiff on Michaels' part for bugging him so much after the pair had vanished. Yet now the data was equally corrupted, because out of all of them, Kai was the last person that should have been assigned to find them, he wouldn't do it and he would probably make it even harder for anyone else to find them.

Bryan mentioned once that he thought that Kai was actually funding some of Anna's wild credit card spending sprees. She certainly seemed to have spent her money on a lot of things that Kai ended up wearing to work the next day. Like a brand new white scarf hand made by the Bolivians in South America....or a new attack ring for Dranzer. Strangely enough, Michaels didn't seem to either notice or care if he did. Clearly, the effort to finding the two was merely a distraction.

Kai left after a few days though, moving to Japan where he had started his true mission (because everyone was ignoring the one where he was trying to find Anna and Tala). He emailed in, and from the emails that Bryan more then happily read out loud to everyone, he was doing well for himself.

His letters tended to range from quick and serious (those were for Michaels) to light and entertaining (for the Demolition Boys). Some of his claims were rather boisterous and wild (for instance, one letter announced that Anna was seen surfing along the Australian coast in a teeny weeny itsy bitsy yellow polka dot bikinni. Michaels didn't seem enjoy the joke or the humor, though Spencer could have sworn he saw a twinkle in the man's eye when he saw that). Kai certainly had some strange way about getting people around him to accept him unconditionally for who he was, a strong willed and genuine person who would go to any lengths to protect those he was close with.

Apparently he moved into a warehouse where he was enjoying the comforts of living on the streets. His past times included killing cockroaches and burning rats that dared to get to close to him, and he was having a wonderful time of the various food venues. He was just getting settled down, and he was refusing to draw to much attention to himself. The watchers had to admit though, particularly Tyson that is, not once did he ever see or hear of Kai before they had met face to face. Not once did he ever care to notice him, even though apparently, he'd been getting reports done about his activities for months before they ever actually spoke.

One letter in particular made some of the watchers laugh because they couldn't believe some of the things Kai had observed over his brief stay in Japan. He went to the BBA building more often then not, and sent his letters and posts from their headquarters. One such letter was read by a very excited Bryan who had dubbed this "Kai Reading Time."

_Dear All,_

_New word in about Anna and Luka, credit card statements have announced the buying of twenty rat traps and a fly swatter. Be advised: they seem to have come across some rough living conditions. Their brand is suspiciously similar to the one that I've been using...ignore that last paragraph. I have mixed up the bank statements. _

_As for my other assignment, Granger is a mediocre beyblader with substandard skills. Probably no better then Emily from the All Starz (on his best day while she was sick with the flu and had no glasses on that is). He's the best of his section of the neighborhood something, which is saying something considering that means they all were no better then us when we were toddlers._

_I've met up with a group of kids who seem to be half way decent at winning though...I'm going to take them under my wing a bit and see if I can rile up the neighborhood. Granger seems to be one of those defender types that'll stand up for anything and anybody. I'm going to start hunting around, and see if he picks it up._

_Relative information: Seiryuu has not awakened yet. So far Granger is useless._

_Don't forget to give Michaels a big hug and a kiss from me, I know he misses me already._

_Love, Kai._

Bryan may have flubbed the last part because Spencer and Ian both were looking at him like he had three heads. Apparently that hadn't been at all like the previous letters they'd read, but Bryan was adamant on not showing them the post, so the world may never know just what Kai had actually put in that letter.

It seemed that besides that though, the Demolition Boys were getting by. The absence of Tala among them was obvious, there seemed to be a great hole where Tala once was, and every so often they looked amongst each other as though that would be when Luka would say something prudent and everything would make sense. Of the three, Bryan appeared to be taking things the hardest. He sighed a lot and he always looked like he was dragging his feet. Michaels noticed it, because he started trying to find things for Bryan to do. On the bimonthly meetings, Bryan would spend much of his time with Michaels talking about various equipment and machines.

Their relationship seemed to have gotten a great deal stronger over the past two months, and the two were usuall seen discussing some form of plan or strategy for something or other. On one particularly boring day that had little to do, Michaels actually brought out a Stratego board and the two played it together. The result of the match was never shown, because the game itself was usually skipped, but the fact that neither ever said anything about it, proved that it was a private moment between the two of them. Bryan talked to Michaels about the Abbey, more so then he used to. Tala had been his outlet before, and Kai after that. Now that neither were there, Michaels seemed to have taken their place as confidante. The Falcon blader told Michaels all about Mikhail and the changes that have been going on, and through it all Michaels just nodded and listened. He didn't take out a recording device or anything, the two were actually just talking about the Abbey outside of what was always on record.

"So Mikhail is your best friend? Outside of Tala that is." Michaels asked once as he took a sip out of a coke he had.

"I guess so. We've been friends for a while. Did you know that he was Kai and Tala's foster brother? Or maybe adopted brother...I know that they lived together, and that he was there before Kai."

"Was he now?"

"Yeah." Bryan hesitated for a moment. "I think we can trust him...I think we can trust him to help us." Michaels hesitated then, he looked at Bryan sternly for a long while.

"Why do you say that?"

"Just a feeling I guess...I don't think he'll betray us."

"Bryan. You know that if you're wrong, you're putting all of your lives at risk. All three of you will most likely be killed if you're wrong." Bryan licked his lips.

"Yeah I know...but he's going to be a guard soon. He's to old to blade in tournaments, and Boris will move him up like he did with the Hazards....He could tell us all about the guards and what it is they do."

"Bryan, if you're wrong-"

"I know, I know, but what else is there? If I'm not wrong we get a huge scoop...and if I am wrong then at least we got as much information out as we could."

"You're willing to bet Spencer and Ian's lives on this too?" Bryan hesitated for just a brief moment. Then he nodded.

"Yeah. I think I am. Mikhail isn't a bad guy. I know he's not."

"What makes you so sure?" Michaels needed to know, and it was a fair question. Adding someone on at this stage of the game, after six years of work, was both dangerous and fool-hearty. If Mikhail truly was loyal to Boris, everything that they were working on would be destroyed.

The watchers themselves couldn't believe that Bryan was so keen on bringing Mikhail in. The brunette was nothing but a foul mouthed bully who never had any interest at all in being nice to Tala. Sure, it seemed that most of it was a facade, but at the same time – that meant that Mikhail always kept a secret agenda. Something that would not work out very well if they told him such a perilous secret.

Michaels didn't seem to want to add Mikhail to the line up either, he looked extremely uncertain about the idea. They had lucked out when they'd gotten the kids to agree all those years ago. Back then, they had hit the gold mine. Such luck may not continue for a new addition. The more people that were in the Abbey, the more people who knew, the more of a chance that they'd be found out.

Tala had proven to everyone that they couldn't keep this up forever though. If the pressure was lifted off of those three's shoulders then perhaps they too wouldn't descend into the pain and torment that was Tala's fate. If Mikhail could help keep those three from breaking as Tala had, then perhaps it would be worth adding him into the group. Still though, the watchers weren't fans of Mikhail. Despite whatever they watched before (with whoever was in the cell because they hadn't really gotten all that great a view of her), they weren't to keen on liking him or accepting him as a part of the ISA's team. It made them start slightly because they realized that they were taking ownership, drawing lines of trust and faith.

Like most movies, they were decidedly "fans" almost of the main characters. Strange considering how they had been mortal enemies only a short while before. Now though, they watched them with anticipation. They knew the outcome, and over the hours of watching the video they were accepting the Demolition Boys for being right and just. They found it hard to still be angry with them for watching them and deceiving them.

They found themselves treating this movie (that they were already on the fourth disk with) just like a normal movie. They were rooting for the "good guys" while hating the "bad guys." To them, Mikhail was a bad guy, and there was nothing else to be said about that. It was Mikhail's fault that Kai's parents had been killed, he had listened to Boris and sold his soul so he could go to the Abbey. Mikhail was constantly rude to Tala and a rather poor influence on Bryan.

It was hard to accept him as anything more than that.

This was another side to Bryan that the watchers found interesting. He was extremely trusting and very loyal. He believed in his friends and he didn't care what the popular opinion of them was. He believed in Mikhail and to him that was good enough. He'd even risk his and his other friends lives with that trust.

Bryan was extremely trusting. Perhaps a little naïve. It was strange to think of Bryan as naïve. They had alwys seen him as a cruel and dangerous – perhaps a little unbalanced. He was certainly not their first choice for someone being naïve. Yet he was, he clearly was. He was trusting Mikhail of all people to not give away their secret. He was trusting him so much already.

Yet it was clear that Bryan had no doubts that Mikhail could take Tala's spot. Or perhaps it had been the ease Tala had always had when dealing with Mikhail. Tala seemed to trust him too. For whatever reason, the watchers couldn't deny that Tala never had any problems whatsoever with Mikhail. Only that one night they had argued, and even then, it was almost as though Tala was just telling his friend to lay off of the topic. He treated Mikhail like one would an annoying older brother, which in essence was what Mikhail was to him.

Maybe that was why Bryan was so keen on having Mikhail in the group. Tala had approved of him, for some reason or other, and Mikhail clearly had spoken to Tala or had a tolerant opinion on the fact that Tala had left.

The watchers wondered what Kai thought of Mikhail. After all the two had bitter feelings towards each other. Mikhail had already said he blamed Tala for the deaths of their parents, Kai would most likely be in a similar position. Yet the two had barely seen each other since the accident, and had seen each other even less after Kai had left the Abbey for good.

It was highly unlikely that Kai would approve of Mikhail's addition to the team. In the past they hadn't gotten along all that well, or at least every time the watchers had seen them together they hadn't gotten along all that well. Having Mikhail would only make things worse.

Yet another of Bryan's traits was pigheadedness. He always did what he wanted to do despite the outcome. He always followed his feelings and emotions and he did what he thought was right based off those emotions. To him, he could see no fault in this. He believed in his friends and he believed in his choice. If Michaels didn't just go ahead and ask, then Bryan would tell Mikhail anyway, and that could possibly be worse because he'd have to tell the other in the Abbey where they were _always _being watched.

Bryan wanted Mikhail to be on the team, and so it was. Michaels asked Spencer and Ian what they thought about it, and the two had no comments. They didn't say anything other then it didn't matter to them. If Bryan trusted Mikhail, then they would trust him too. It was as simple as that. They were willing to put their lives on the line for this jerk, and they were willing to trust Bryan's word without any question or fear.

That was something that the watchers could hardly believe. Their very lives were at stake and it all depended on Bryan having a good taste in friends. They didn't seem to care nor get worried about the fact that if Bryan was wrong they were going to be killed. They didn't seem to care about any of that. In fact, they just seemed to ignore that possibility completely. Spencer and Ian believed in Bryan, just as Bryan believed in them.

It was an honorable trait. This trust of theirs. They didn't ever once consider the risks involved. The risks weren't important. What was important was their mission, and they all believed that whatever it took to see this mission to its end was a good enough reason to do half the crazy things that they did. They didn't want to deal with the Abbey one more day, and at times it seemed like all three just wanted to leave, leave like Tala had. Yet they never did, because they needed to see that this mission was going to be over, that Boris was going to go down in flames, and that everything that they had worked so hard to do over the past half a dozen years hadn't been for naught.

Tala wasn't there anymore, and Kai was in Japan. Anna was gone, but they remained. They were the last three members of their team left, and they weren't going to just sit around and watch their hard work dissapear in the wind. If Mikhail could help, then they would be more than willing to join up with him and work with him towards that future that they all longed for.

Michaels conceded after a while, and said he'd work out a way to ask Mikhail what he thought about the idea of joining up with them. He didn't particularly want to do it, but he understood that this was something that was going to happen regardless of his wish or will. The boys would just go forth without him. The Hazards before they became guards, and the Maims, went to bimonthly meeting just as the Demolition Boys did. They had been orchestrated so that it wouldn't be peculiar to see the Demolition Boys constantly going to Voltaire. Michaels promised that the next time Mikhail was up for his monthly meeting, he would find some way to ask the boy then. It would have to be planned just right though, if Mikhail refused, he wouldn't have Voltaire or any of the others caught in the cross fire. That would be the safest way to go through with everything.

The screen faded, and to everyone's surprise, it wasn't at the next meeting, but rather in that same dark hallway that Mikhail had first run into Kiril in. Kiril was another topic of concern that was so easily forgotten with all the other strangenesses that were floating around. The little boy was Boris' son, and therefore Tala's brother. Yet he wasn't training in the Abbey, and his mother had given Mikhail a fright.

The obvious choice would be that whoever it was that Mikhail had seen that night was someone that he himself knew. That could only have been Kai's mother...and yet there was no doubt that _that_ woman was dead. There was no doubt at all. She had been buried and she had been gone for years.

Mikhail was seen walking down the hallway, his eyes dark and it looked like he was thinking heavily. Mikhail hadn't seen it yet, but up ahead there was a little motion, and soon enough the bronze haireed boy bounded forwards excitedly. His arms shot out and grabbed the older man by the hands. Mikhail started badly, and for a moment it looked like he would strike the boy.

"Kiril! What on earth are you doing out of your cell!?" He hissed, aggravated to say the least.

"You never came back and I wanted to see you again." The child was giggling and Mikhail growled slightly, annoyed by his antics.

"You little midget. Get back to where you're supposed to be twerp. I don't have time to deal with you and your escapades." Clearly, Mikhail didn't deal with kids very well either.

"Was a ses-cap-aid?"

"Just get." The abrasive blader shoved the boy forward and continued on, trying hard not to deal with the boy that was now following him.

"Get what?"

"_Away_."

"Don' wanna."

"Listen brat, get it through your thick head. I want nothing to do with you or your fucked up mother. So get away from me before your idiocy gets me into trouble. _Got it?_" Fat tears were forming in the little boy's eyes, but Mikhail refused to be moved. He scowled and turned to walk away.

"That wasn't very nice." Bryan's voice lifted through the darkness, and Mikhail groaned heavily before turning around and looking at his young friend. The little child was crying heavily now, but Bryan was kneeling lightly by his side and was petting his hair lightly. "Hey, it's okay, Mikhail's just a big ol' meany isn't he?" The child nodded, tears slipping down his cheeks. "Hey it's okay, why don't ya stop crying now hmm?"

"I don' like him!" Kiril decreed as he moved and wrapped his baby arms around Bryan's neck. The falcon wielder laughed as he looked at the annoyed look on Mikhail's face.

"Few do kid, few do. Now where are you supposed to be right now hmm?"

"Whys everyone makin' me go back? I don' like _that _eider."

"I'm sure you don't but where are you supposed to be kid?"

"I'm not a kid, I'm four years old!"

"Alright little man, where're you supposed to be?"

"He has a cell with his mother down in the old dungeons you lot used to live in." Mikhail threw in, since Kiril obviously wasn't going to tell him anything.

"Down there?" Even Bryan looked surprised at that. "I guess I'll bring you back...it'll be fun to stop by the old stomping grounds again."

"No!" Bryan looked at his friend in confusion, Mikhail's eyes were wide and he appeared to be almost in shock, but then he too frowned slightly and looked away. "Forget it...let's just get this over with...there's something you should see too..." The three walked down the halls quietly, avoiding memorized booby traps and seemingly reminiscing on old times.

Bryan looked like he was having quite a bit of fun, and he showed Kiril more artful ways of getting through the traps. The little boy soaked up information like water to a sponge and he was happy for it. Yet there was something that Mikhail was worried about. He was silent and he kept looking at the kid with such eyes that conveyed only the deepest of sadness and the strangest of emotions.

He looked guilty about something, but guilty for what? What could he have possibly seen, done, or heard that had made him feel guilty? Even as Kiril bounded excitedly in front of them, even as the little boy happily skipped before them, Bryan too was picking up on the emotions that were spilling over from Mikhail. As happy as that child was, there was something very- very – wrong with this picture.

The dungeon came up ahead and Bryan watched as Mikhail moved before him. There was a rigidness about him. He was preparing himself for something, and unconsciously Bryan was doing the same. The watchers didn't know what was going on, but they wanted to. They leaned closer, trying to prepare themselves for whatever it was they were going to see down here.

Kiril slipped through the bars and started talking animatedly to the woman. She looked up, and the watchers could only stare. Gorgeous blood red hair fell from her head. Dazzling blue eyes were shimmering in the dark, and with the white dress that probably did nothing for the cold, she looked exactly like Boris' first child...and therefore undoubtedly her son.

Bryan recoiled backwards from shock, much as Mikhail had the last time he'd been down here. Tala's mother. It was the only thing they could think of. The similarity was so close, the shape of their faces, the gentleness that was exuded. Those small hands. Tala was a carbon copy, male at least, of this woman and Bryan looked like he was going to be sick.

Parents and things of that nature weren't thought of much in the Abbey. They couldn't be thought of. In truth, parents were things that they weren't allowed to have. They weren't allowed to have people be there and love and care for them. The closest thing Bryan probably had to a parent was Michaels – strange as that may seem. The man had proven that he cared about his young agents, and he'd proven that he didn't want anything to happen to them. Voltaire (though kind) was not a large enough influence on his life, and it had been Michaels who had helped him become who he was. The fact that Tala actually had both parents. Or at least, had both of them alive. Was something that was nearly unheard of. Kai's parents were murdered, Ian's mother died in childbirth and his father sold him to the Abbey, and Spencer and he had both been orphans. So...Tala was the exception.

Though not by much. Boris was a monster and a creep. The man hated his son, and he never once said anything pleasant to him. This woman...most likely had never even met her child. Tala would have said something. He would have because he was someone who needed people around him, and he would have wanted her. Bryan's eyes slipped to Kiril. That boy looked more like his father. He still had the red tint to his hair, but it was darker and almost brown. A bronze and copper combination that was mussy and not as pristine looking as his mother's and brother's.

His face was already showing signs of sharpness, and it was more angular then Tala's was. That wasn't to say he looked like he'd graduate to having the same face as that horse of a man Boris, but he was not as fair featured as his older brother either. The resemblance was still there.

Even tiny and perky, and with dark eyes that did not reflect the blue of his sibling, the child still somehow was a distinct relation to Luka. Bryan couldn't believe he'd missed it. This here, was none other then Luka's brother. He turned to Mikhail wordlessly, asking the question in his head because he couldn't formulate it in sound.

"He's Boris' second son." Mikhail whispered softly. Instantly the woman was at the bars, and the two jumped back out of surprise. She scared them. They didn't know how to react to a mother. It was the first time they'd been able to be around someone like her. Mikhail had the pleasure of being Aya's child for a while, but it had been so long...and this woman was so foreign. They were frightened. They felt like little children again, getting caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. They were uncertain.

"Second? Second you said right?" She gasped, her voice musical and far higher in pitch then her first child.

"Y-yes ma'am." Mikhail felt chastened. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, and his guilt was now obvious. All those months ago...he had yelled at Tala and cursed his mother. He'd made fun of the woman and had made fun of the red head because of the woman. Now here she was and in a horrible predicament and he felt guilty about it. He didn't know about her and he didn't realize what had happened to her, but he still had said those cruel words about her. No wonder he'd been in such shock.

"You-you know the first?" She was visibly shaking. She reached out to them, but they were out of her reach. Bryan looked at the brunette for a brief moment before taking a deep breath. He needed to do this, for his friend. He stepped forward and he took her hand.

"Yes ma'am...he's a fifteen year old red head named Luka ma'am."

"Fifteen...he's fifteen...he didn't die..." She looked like she was in shock, and Bryan gave her hand a squeeze. He looked to Mikhail for help, but the brunette was firmly silent on the matter. "No ma'am..."

"Luka you say? Who gave him such a child's name?" The boys blanched. The looked between them for a moment, not sure how to respond. She seemed to catch just how accusing that came out though, and laughed lightly. "Certainly not that boar of a man. He'd never name his _son _something like 'Luka.'"

"Ah...no ma'am. Our...an old friend of ours who used to live here, Kai, he named Luka. Most people call him 'Tala' though."

"That sounds more appropriate...his real name...it's Yuri." She was mumbling the words to herself, and the boys took it into consideration, before she looked up suddenly. "You said a friend of yours named him? Does that mean you're friends?! Do you know my son?" She looked so eager. She wanted to know where he was. Her body was all but shaking with the need to know. She wanted to see him for herself. To hold him for herself...

The two shifted awkwardly. Mikhail probably because he spent so much of his life hating Luka, and Bryan because having the confirmation that his _brother _was this woman's biological _son _was so startling. He was uncomfortable with her. He didn't like being around her, and he didn't really want to continue this much longer. Yet at the same time...she was drawing him in. He'd never met a woman like her before...a mother like her.

"Yes. We know him." Mikhail finally answered as he forced himself closer.

"Can I see him? Is he here? Is he hurt?" They didn't know what to say – couldn't know what to say. This woman wanted to see her son, and he'd just dissapeared. They couldn't do anything about that. Tala was gone and that was that.

"We can't bring him to you." Bryan looked at Mikhail who seemed to have finally taken over this conversation. The brunette looked relatively confident he knew what he was doing, but still, he was still concerned.

"He's hurt isn't he? Dead? That bastard did something to him didn't he?" Kiril was looking at the scene in confusion. He didn't understand what was going on. He walked towards his mother and reached out a small hand to touch her dress. Her voice had an eerie quality. As though she were fortelling a fate that had already been predestined to occur. The boys stared at her, just wondering what type of lies Boris had filled her mind with.

"Mama?" He asked softly, trying to figure out what was happening. She didn't look down. She kept her eyes trained on the two before her. She couldn't look down. After fifteen years she was finally finding out what had happened to her child and she couldn't take her eyes away from these two kids. She couldn't do it.

"He's not dead." Bryan said with more conviction then he intended. Mikhail rolled his eyes but looked away. "At least we don't think so. He ran away two months ago...we haven't seen or heard anything about him for two months."

Blue eyes were filling with tears. She raised a shaking hand to her face and she wept quietly and softly as she thought that over. Her son was no longer in the Abbey. He wasn't there any more. She felt her heart start to sing slightly. She nodded to them before letting out another choked sob.

"He escaped? He's free? He's not here anymore?" For a moment she looked taken aback, as though the information was so foreign and strange. A look of something flashed across her face, and the boy's could describe it at all. It vanished though, and moments later a huge grin had erupted on her face. She looked so happy that the boys couldn't help but smile slightly with her. It was an awkward smile, one that they did just because it had come naturally, but the two looked and felt worse then ever before. Bryan especially.

For even the Watchers knew that this was all it would take to have Tala running back to the Abbey. This was all it would take to have him sacrifice himself over and over again. If he knew she was here...he would go back. He would save her. He'd die trying, he would do anything. She was family...and that was what was important to the boy.

"Yes..." Bryan nodded slightly as he shifted uncomfortably.

"How? Why?" Bryan tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn't do it. She was holding on too hard. He was getting a very bad feeling. They needed to leave...soon. He tried again, but she wouldn't let go. He glanced to Mikhail, but the brunette wasn't looking, he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Boris...he ordered Luka to shoot a girl – an intruder. They'd met before when he'd been at tournaments and the like and he'd gotten a bit of a crush on her...he probably fell in love with her, but we don't talk about stuff like that here."

"He killed her?" The words were spoken in such shock that Bryan felt another urge to flee. Her eyes looked so haunted and so scared. He was ruining this for his brother. He was absolutely ruining this. He'd tarnished Luka's reputation with this woman.

"Not then." Mikhail had spoken strangely enough, and the woman's eyes moved to him. "His chamber was empty when he fired, and she got away. He ran after her, and as far as all we know she was shot and she fell into the lake. The cops showed up and arrested him about a minute or two after that, and her body hasn't turned up. He certainly believes that he killed her, but there's nothing conclusive just yet. He ran off when he went to his bimonthly meeting with Voltaire Hiwatari. No one's seen him since."

"No one knows if that poor girl..."

"No one knows if she's alive or dead. I'm banking on alive though...he wouldn't have run if she was dead."

"Yes he would have. He couldn't take this place anymore, being here – where he killed her...he couldn't be here. You saw how he was before he left." Bryan's heart had to have been pounding over two hundred beats per minute as Mikhail said that. If Boris thought that Anna was still alive, there'd be a man hunt out there for her. The fact the two would be logically together only made things worse. How _dare _Mikhail say something so damning.

"Yeah, I saw that. I saw him. He was a mess, and an idiot. That doesn't change the fact that he would have stayed if she were dead."

"He could barely even look at anyone since then and he barely spoke. You think that he honestly would have stayed here for one second longer if she had died? He just killed the girl he loved! He wouldn't stay here!"

"Who are you trying to convince, me, her, or yourself?"

"Or how about me?" Everyone froze. Bryan felt his blood run cold. Mikhail's face had paled considerably. He looked like he was about to pass out from shock. The woman reeled back from the bars and pulled Kiril with him. She was holding her child to her side and she was looking to the man that was standing on five feet away from the lilac haired blader. Boris was always intimidating.

Then as though lightening struck, the two boys snapped to attention and saluted their commander with practiced and fluid ease. They shot off a perfect 'sir!' in unison, and they stared straight ahead with a balance and fierceness to be rivaled. The man was not happy with them already, and they weren't about to make it worse.

"Well, well, well...you know I always expected someone to find this place one day. I didn't think it'd be you Mikhail...and I most certainly didn't think you'd be stupid enough to bring this rug rat friend of yours with you." The brunette winced slightly as Boris punched Bryan so hard in the face that the teen went flying into the bars next to him. His head cracked against them and he fell to his knees in a slump. Mikhail wisely stayed still though, despite the fact his friend was on the ground blinking in a stupor, he did nothing to help. He knew that would only make things worse. So he stayed still, and he didn't dare to move his eyes from the man before him. She, whoever _she _was, however screamed angrily.

"Don't you dare touch those boys again Bors Valkov!" The man glared at her, daring her to say that again.

"It's _Boris_." He growled, though he made no move to strike either child once more. His eyes were pinned on the woman before him and he wasn't making any sudden movements. Despite his threatening stance, this woman had chastized him into silence. He didn't move, and there wa sa stalemate in the hallway. That is, until she hissed her command back at him.

"Don't. Touch them. _Bors_."

"You think this tough guy act is going to work on me? You're a fool." Bryan was slowly un-slinking himself up off the floor, head still clearly spinning but knowing he had to get up soon or else he'd get into bigger trouble. The moment he was back on his feet though he was roughly grabbed by the hair and pulled closer to the man. Fear danced through the younger boy's eyes as he looked at his director. "Get out. _Now._"

Not needing to be told twice the boy quickly made his way back towards the exit, glancing behind only once to see what was happening to Mikhail, but he couldn't see, and so he fled. With him...the screen faded black.

The watchers found themselves in a state of awe. Watching the interaction was something that they hadn't expected. They had guessed everything, Kai's mother, Mikhail's mother, everything but this red headed woman who wanted to know where her son was at all costs.

Boris's odd obedience to the woman was also a shock. They couldn't believe he'd actually listened to her. Sure he had grabbed at Bryan once more before it was over, but he still hadn't struck at the teen. He had been oddly alright with letting him flee despite the situation.

Most likely, Mikhail would get out of everything alright too. Boris didn't seem to want to upset the woman for some reason, and he was being rather polite considering the situation. Yet at the same time it was an all together new out look on who this man was and the people who were watching him couldn't help but feel awkward about the turn of events.

Mikhail seemed particularly nervous. After all, he was up for a promotion soon and if this man saw fit, he could see his life in shameless. The boy honestly didn't know what he was going to do, and it looked like he was at a loss on how to handle the situation between the woman and Boris. He was basically standing there looking confused more then anything else.

Boris was a man not to be trifled with, and it seemed that his temper was running on high these days. He didn't appreciate the fact that his first born had disappeared into thin air the way that he had. He didn't like that the teen had grown a mind of his own and had decided to disappear from the Abbey. There were so many things that the man seemed to be frustrated about, but more often then not they all seemed to have to do with his son.

Tala was pissing him off, and he was God knows where. This video didn't seem like it was going to tell the watchers, and it certainly seemed like there was going to be no information from Kai who was not helping in the slightest.

On top of all that, there was a strangeness in the bonds and ties that were forming as well. Bryan was getting oddly attached to Michaels which was something that Rei mentioned when the topic of the man's death had come up. Bryan had been physically grieving he was so torn up about it. The teen was honestly upset about the situation and there was nothing that any of them could do. This was just the beginning of the bond that was going to break, and they all knew that the two would get closer as time wore on.

Michaels was the father figure that the Demolition Boys had sorely needed. He may not have been ideal, but he was far better then Boris that was for certain. Kai and Tala had been lucky, they'd actually had parents. Tala now knew that he had both parents. However, there was nothing lucky about their situation now. Everything was falling to hell in ha hand basket and there was nothing anyone could do.

On top of that, now Tala's mother appeared out of nowhere , and her one goal in life was to meet her son and to have him with her...everything was turning into a mess, and all the watchers could wonder, was that if this woman really existed...where was _she _at the hospital...just like how Kiril was missing, so was this woman. Neither had appeared when the chaos had gone down, and they couldn't understand it.

If Anna had heard while she had been busy on a mission, then those two must have heard. So what was going on? And where had all these people ended up?

**Windstar: **Don't forget to answer the question I posed above about Tala and Anna, and futher more, as a PS: I will be MUCH MORE FREQUENTLY. I said it before and I'll say it again - this fic is going to be completed by the time I go to college. That means, that without a doubt it will be finished August 19th. That doesn't mean it's companion peices will be done, they might take a while longer, but the story as a whole should be finished by that date. That means I'm going to be updating as much as I can. Whenever I finish a chapter I'll update a new one. I'm almost done with it, and am in fact at the world championships and just finished the Blade Breakers first encounter with the Abbey sequence. When I'm finished writing, expect the updates to be almost every day. This really doesn't nothing for my review count because of the frequent updates, but hey, I can only hope that people will read it and give each chapter the respect and credit it deserves, if not, then I really can't say much more.

Bless! And I can't wait to hear your ideas!


	21. Of Flashbacks and Memories

**Windstar: **I have to applaud myself. For once I'm playing with whole numbers. Not only is this chapter 10,000 words long - AN not included of course - but THE COMPLETED story of On the Three is 500 pages long. 500pgs! Ladies and gentlemen - it's done. The longest Canon based fanfiction on fanfiction dot net thus far. I busted my butt all week and finished it last night. To break my awesome symetry of the day though, it's 31 chapters long. Though if you add in the roughly nine chapter interlude of The Pulse and Operation Desert Storm you'd get 40 Chapters. Of course they don't count....The pulse will start to come out with chapter 23. So far I've written five chapters for it and it's shaping up nicely. I'm waiting until then to post it because I want to make sure that anything everything that could be involved in that story is taken care of by that point. It's far shorter then this, and the chapter lengths aren't going to be set at a minimum of 13, some are going to be short, some are going to be long. I'm not really going to be busting my ass on length here.

I have only a few things to say, one: this is the LONGEST chapter so far. at 10,000 words it's 16 pages and it's quite chunky. I decided to throw in some flashbacks like I did in the past, mainly because I like to allude to things and everything has a time and place for everything. I have to say, I'm patting myself on the back. Because I finished the story before I posted it, I was able to have sooo much foreshadowing done. So pay attention, this chapter is full of things you'll want to remember in the future.

This is an information chapter, and I'm not going to bore you with details up here when you can read about it later, but it's more humorous and informative then anything else, that being said this isn't really an angst ridden chapter, it's more of a reflection and I think everyone needs a break from the angst. I can assure you all that this story doesn't dwell in it, everything does get better. Also, from here on out this is my official disclaimer:

**New Official Disclaimer: **Beyblade does not belong to me, while many scenes are quoted and cited, this is not a work that is recieving profit in anyway. All quotes belong specifically to the anime and are all the creation of _those _writers. I did not write them and claim no ownership over the quotes that may or may not appear in this work. The only thing that I lay claim to is that of the characters not belonging to the original creaters of Beyblade and all those responsible for the production of that work.

**Chapter Twenty:**

Ian hated peas. Perhaps that seemed like a random thing. Yet there it was, in plain sight, Ian and a bowl of peas eating them with resignation because he couldn't think of anything else to do at the time. Spencer was sitting across from him and the two looked depressed, miserable, and basically like they just wanted to lay down in a ditch and give up on everything. Pushing daisies had to be more lively then this bunch.

Ian looked down at the bowl he was nibbling from and he took another spoon full. His heart was heavy, and it was clear on his face that he would just keep on at the pease until there was nothing left to do. Spencer didn't say a word, he just stared off to the side, thinking quietly.

It was a month after Bryan and Mikhail had been caught with Tala's mother...and it seemed like things were much the same as they were before. The boys were low energy and miserable, and Tala was no where to be seen. The two were sitting in the kitchen of their Headquarters and the peas were the only thing that they could eat. So there they were, eating.

Bryan walked in after a little while, and he sat down next to Spencer. He looked out of breath and slightly worried about something. Shaking his head though he sighed heavily and reached out for a spoon so he could take a pick at those peas of Ian's. The smaller boy glared at him and moved the peas away.

"You don't even like them." Bryan argued lightly, but the boy simply glowered

"Luka does...It's his birthday." That put everyone into silence. No one said anything for a while. It felt like their friend had abandoned them. It felt like he had just left them all behind. They didn't want him to come back, but at the same time...they resented him for leaving. They were a team. A family...and he left. He left them with her and that was that.

Kai's absence was tolling on them as well. They wanted their family to be together again, not spread out like it currently was. They missed seeing each other as one whole unit. They missed everything. Christmas was coming up...and it would be the first year that they didn't spend together.

They'd been given permission to leave the Abbey as always, but they wouldn't be with Kai – who said he couldn't make it back – and they wouldn't be with Tala or Anna either. They'd be alone in a snowy mansion with Voltaire and nothing else was left. Sixteen years of age should have been an accomplishment in itself. There should have been candles and cake and festivities. There should have been a party of some sort. There should have been something...instead there was this. Ian eating peas by himself and everyone looking in a different direction because they couldn't stomach the thought of leaving this make shift party even if their bodies wanted nothing more then to bolt in the opposite direction.

Michaels walked in after a little while, and he looked at the motley crew for a moment before shaking his head and pulling up a chair to sit besides them. He glanced at the door for a brief moment before sighing heavily and pulling out a piece of paper that he'd kept in his pocket.

"Dear F-Team, we know this letter is coming rather late, especially considering how we left, but we wanted to let you all know that everything is alright. While we can't tell you where we ended up, we wanted to tell you this: we're working on the BD Server and it's near completion. Korg will be meeting up with us soon to help us finish the blue prints and then he'll be back to build it. We're sorry for leaving so suddenly, and we wish we could have said goodbye more appropriately, please forgive us. These past few months have been rather hard on us too, and while we feel like we've abandoned you, we know it was important to do what we've done. We're going to come back someday, we don't know when, or how, but we will. Until then...please wait for us. We miss you terribly, and dont worry – we'll be okay. All the love in our hearts L&A."

Fot a moment nobody said a word. They couldn't believe what Michaels hat just read to them, and when slowly yet surely reality started sinking in, they were all staring at him slack jawed. Ian even had tears in his eyes. It was the first time they had concrete evidence about the two. It was the first time that they had heard something from the runaways.

Michaels coughed slightly, before continuing. "We received this message about half an hour ago. We couldn't trace it...it was sent from an...unusual source it seems. Neither computer nor PDA, we haven't quite figured out how it was sent. There wasn't even a trail...it just appeared in our mailbox like magic."

Sharp realization hit the boys though. They gasped slightly and remembered the words in the letter. They were working on the BD Server...if it was being created...then the very likely possibility was that this was from the Server. They had learned how to send things...or make things appear.

"What are the chances that Anna could pilot the Server?" Bryan mused out loud, trying to imagine the girl running the operation that she was busy building had the edge because she knew the inner  
workings. Spencer was shaking his head though.

"Minimal. Tala only had the edge because he fought with Black Dranzer before and came out on top. She respects him. She wouldn't respect Anna, or else she would let any of the workers in the Abbey run her. That being said, how can they be working on the system when they don't even have Black Dranzer to start with?"

"Korg told me that before Anna had left, they had brought up the possibility of using a simulation of Black Dranzer to create the effects the bit beast would have. Because BD is a computer generated project in the first place they were thinking of working up a similar interface in order to layer it over whatever the actual software and hardware was that they needed to create. My guess on the matter is that whatever sent this-" He motioned towards the letter. "Is created by the fruits of their labors."

"A simulation Black Dranzer? Dama Anya's getting too smart for her own good." Bryan shook his head slightly and sighed. He leaned back in his chair and he took a deep breath. "Korg's still here isn't he? So those two idiots are doing this on their own?"

Michaels nodded. He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking, his lips turning in a small frown. He seemed to have been thinking the same thing the others were because they weren't looking to pleased with the information either.

"It seems like...still though, Tala seems to be doing better..."

"Either that or Anna sent this and she's just using 'we' and signing his name so we feel good. I'm sure she could hack in and deposit that mail – she is the technology buff here next to Korg." Spencer supplied lightly.

"You think after three months he'd still be a mess?" Michaels murmured. Tala had been an absolute disaster the last time they'd seen him. He'd been so traumatized by everything he literally couldn't function anymore.

"Yes." Ian said simply enough. "Tala's...not there anymore. I think he's been cracking for a while...but now he really is gone. Luka is far more innocent...and far more childish then Tala ever would be."

"You're talking like he has a split personality." Michaels said simply. It was a fact, and he didn't bother to ask it as a question. He knew how these boys thought. They never said anything they didn't mean to say. They were trained to think so fast and so directly that they never did anything without having thoroughly analyzed the outcomes.

"We all do, I think everyone does. Thing is, we've never been given names to call our better halves. Technically if you look on our files you'll see that we all have different names, names that were given to us at birth or some such shit. They were changed as we got older. Sergei is Spence's reall name. Ivan is Ian's...mine's Boris. Hell, even Balkov's real name is Bors _Valkov_. The three of us just never go by those names, and it hasn't been a tradition to call ourselves by them. So the difference is greater with Tala who's always gone with either Luka or his nickname. Then there's his mother-" Bryan closed his mouth quickly. He looked like he didn't know if he should continue, and the others were staring at him. For a moment it looked like he hadn't told anyone about his friend's family, but Ian sighed and ran a hand through his hair before nodding slightly. It seemed to be a sore topic.

"We need to get her and the kid out of there...Kiril isn't going to have immunity forever. One of these days, Boris is going to throw him into the frying pan just like he did Tala...and that woman-"

"I've looked her up by the way." All eyes went to Michaels and he sighed. "Her name is Marina Valkov, she and _Bors _were married quite some time ago. She may have changed her name over the years, but that's the one that is actually legalized. She used to work at a zoo, but had a degree in genetic engineering. Occasionally she'd tamper with some of the DNA in her lab but other then that she never really pursued that career until she met up with her husband to be. The two got married, and she went to the Abbey and started to work as a scientist there. Believing that he was creating the perfect heir to his future world, the two took their sperm and egg and tampered with it until they came up with a child they thought would grow perfectly. They were wrong. Marina apparently miscarried twelve times before Tala was finally able to survive.

"By that point though, all she wanted was to be able to hold her own child, and so all thoughts of using him vanished from her mind. Until she started to realize that Tala...Yuri as he apparently was called, wasn't going to be allowed to stay with her. He'd be taken away from her the moment he was born and put into Boris' program. She couldn't stand the idea anymore, she wanted to raise him as a normal mother would.

"So she ran away...and she went into the zoo business. It didn't take all that long for her husband to find her, but when he did Tala had disappeared and she was near death. He brought her back to the Abbey, threw her into a secure cell and refused to let her out. Then he hunted down his son, and brought him back. As you all know, he was named Luka, then adopted by Kai's parents. Boris couldn't very well stop it from happening because he wasn't supposed to have even created Tala, so he allowed it even though technically he was still the boy's father and therefore his legal guardian.

"It may have even been why he killed Kai's parents though. Of course he wanted Kai back in the Abbey too, but killing them like that was a little too much...it was almost revenge for stealing away his son. The rest you all know, and from what I've been able to tell, Kiril was natural born. He's Boris' son alright, but his genes haven't been messed with.

"That's the only reason why I can figure he hasn't been put in the program. You've all admitted that when you first arrived they ran tests and experiments on you. That's why you all have doctor-phobia. My guess is that they were weeding you out and taking only those that were genetically superior. Kiril didn't fit the bill, and so he's allowed to stay with his mother.

"Boris knows that Marina can actually produce a child of Tala's calliber though...I wouldn't be surprised if he was going to keep trying. Especially since his perfect child is no longer around.

"Speaking of which...remember those tests that I ran on you all when you first arrived?" They nodded. "I figure now is as good a time as any to tell you the results." He pulled out some more papers from his pocket and he spread them out in front of him. "Would it surprise any of you to find out that you all have I.Q.s of over the genius level?" The boys didn't look too surprised at that, but Bryan snickered and glanced over to Ian.

"So that's where all your height went, to your brain! No wonder your nose is so large, your thick head can't hold it all in!" He yelped suddenly when apparently the smaller boy kicked him hard in the shin. "Dip shit midget!"

"Loser brain retard." The sniper hissed angrily.

"Carpet munching toucan!"

"Lizard lipped fart face!"

"And this is how the two of the most brilliant minds in the world react to that news." Michaels muttered, though he honestly didn't appear all that shocked. Clearly he'd been habituated by them over time. Something the watchers found rather funny actually. Spencer ordered the two ruffians into silence so they could listen to what the man had to say. "Spencer, your IQ all those years ago was that of 151, an extraordinarily high mark considering your young age. Ian, you were 149, again something to be proud of."

"And moi?" Bryan blinked flirtatiously and the man glanced at him.

"An IQ of 3." The man deadpanned. Bry reeled back slightly and then with an entirely hopeful look on his face:

"Plus?" He asked nervously.

"150."

"I always knew I was smarter then you Spence." The blonde swatted at him, and he ducked it quickly enough. He was snickering though. "So what were Tala and Kai? Our genetically engineered friends?" Michaels raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you think Kai was genetically engineered as well?"

"Umm, hello, have you seen his hair?" Another swat and kick, both of which the boy avoided. He snickered lightly. "It's pretty obvious that's all. He was born at the Abbey too and his parents were never able to have kids before him. Or after him. That's why they adopted all those orphans and Mikhail."

"You're right, of course."

"Of course, it's my Copernicus level genius that led me to this conclusion-" He missed the swat and he winced as he glanced towards his friend. The blonde was not amused. "Lo siento." He said softly, and the blonde just nodded lightly towards him.

"Kai, or rather Sacha, was created to be the equal or balancing agent to...Yuri. Kai was designed to be exceedingly smart as well as very perceptive. He may have been based off of Nikoli and Aya Ivanov's genes, but there were a lot of other factors in his blood and DNA that helped make him who he was. The same could be said for his brother, who actually is a lot closer to him than we originally assumed.

"They were meant to be twins. The two were created the same day and they impregnated the mothers the same day. We have reason to believe that Aya and Marina actually knew each other and coexisted."

"The picture..." Bryan's eyes widened somewhat.

"What picture?"

"When Tal' was a kid he used to draw a lot. He drew a picture of Marina, and his cooler dad saw it...no wonder the man was shocked. It wasn't because Luka could draw so well, it was because he recognized Marina on the page. He _knew _who the kid had drawn..."

"We did some checking to make sure...we didn't want to claim anything before we were positive...but the zoo that Marina went to with her son...it was owned by none other then Aya Hiwatari Ivanov. I firmly believe that when Marina wanted to escape, she went to Aya and she asked her for a way out, and Aya being the big hearted woman she was – gave her one.

"Kai and Tala share similar genetic markings. They could be blood brothers if the DNA was just a little closer. They're not really related, but they share many of the same qualities since that was what they were created to do. Kai was always supposed to have been the one that ran Black Dranzer. So he was given a specific genetic marker that would allow him to communicate and use the powers of the phoenix more efficiently. Tala was always supposed to be the guardian.

"Because Kai would be practically unconscious while he worked with Black Dranzer, it was supposed to be Tala's job to protect him. That's why he was given a lot more of the self sacrificing masochistic gene then most people would have. That being said, his eye sight was also enhanced dramatically. We never really knew how much since we only ran the tests after his eyes had been destroyed, but from what we've found through the files Anna managed to steal along with the BD server information...he had an astounding 20/10 vision. It was one of the reasons why I believe he took his glasses and his lack of sight so hard. Not only was his perfect vision ruined, but we were running under the assumption that he could see the average of 20/20. He couldn't, he saw better, and so when we gave him glasses we made him see worse then he originally could."

The boys were staring at him slack jawed. They never really considered what made Tala tick before. He'd always been their friend, and while he'd admitted he was genetically altered, they hadn't cared and life had moved on. He was their friend, not some freak. This information was more interesting then anything else. They had never known about any of this.

"There's also another thing that was interesting...while Kai was supposed to be the wielder of Black Dranzer from the moment he was..." The man was trying to find a neutral word, because he just knew these boys would react badly if he attempted to say even the slightest thing rude about their friends. He settled on "conceived, Tala was also given a very (and I do mean very) small genetic marker that makes him a passable candidate as well.

"I honestly believe that another reason Boris let those two get away with so much, like visits home and things of that nature, was because they were supposed to be together since birth. They were created to be the twins of each other, one the perfect weapon, the other the perfect shield. What he hadn't counted on of course...was the fact that everything looks pretty on paper but that doesn't mean that it will grow up to be the perfect tool.

"My guess is that he pushed them to far. He pushed everyone to far. He pushed Marina to the point that she ran away rather then let him have her child. He pushed Aya and Nikoli to the point that they were constantly pulling Kai from the Abbey despite promises made for him to stay there. He pushed the boys to the point of perfection so many times that even though they were physically capable of meeting his expectations, they were mentally unable to keep up. He pushed Kai so far that he literally broke trying to stay treading above the proverbial water. He pushed Tala so hard that he lost his mind after Anna...he was far too impatient to deal with them as they were – living people that had limitations to their growth.

"If he hadn't had pushed so much...I can honestly say that I think that the ISABD wouldn't even know what you five look like right now. I think you'd all still be in the Abbey and you'd all still be ready to follow his orders to destroy the world. I can't imagine what it'd be like if Kai had never scorched the Abbey and you all hadn't left.

"Which brings up another point...Boris had shown you all Black Dranzer because he had wanted to see what would happen. He was pushing for there to be a reaction, and there was. Kai's genetics were meant to respond to that bird. It was a default setting in his make up. So when he saw it, he couldn't help it – and I do mean he absolutely couldn't help it but go after it and launch it. Tala too. Perhaps not as strong as his brother...but do you all really believe that Tala couldn't have stopped Kai if he really wanted to? He was just as curious as Kai was to see what would happen if the bird was unleashed.

"What Boris hadn't counted on, was the fact that Kai hated the Abbey so much, that he started to destroy everything. He also didn't factor in just how strong of a 'shield' Luka really is. Tala's very presence is there to protect Kai, and that meant that if Black Dranzer was a threat, he would attack that too. Never for a moment do I think that Tala couldn't have destroyed Black Dranzer that day – he was well within the realm of doing so...however I don't think that he actually physically could do it. He let Black Dranzer live because his body was still responding to the bird's presence. He needed it to be there, because it was his sole purpose in life to protect Kai and to make sure that everything with Black Dranzer went well enough."

For a while, nobody said anything. Slight nuances in the past, slight memories of events happening those made things perfectly clear. Tala had always done everything in his power to do whatever it was Kai had said and whatever it was Kai needed to be protected from. Tala had sacrificed himself again and again for those purposes. He was an extraordinary beyblader. He was beyond the normal level by far.

Now that the watchers thought about it, they realized the truth in Michaels' words. He could fight and play at a level that was unbelievable. He was so well trained and so amazingly talented that it would seem like he wouldn't do half the things he did.

Yet he had done it again. His genetic makeup had told him that he needed to protect Kai, and so he'd offered himself up to Boris and let him cut away at him. He was told that he needed to learn how to control Black Dranzer, and control her he did. He even let her try to kill him for the sheer fact that the longer it took for them to think he had to learn how to use the program, the safer Kai would be.

It was all about Kai. Everything, and despite it all, Kai never was surprised. Not once did he ever seem to not know what was happening with his brother. Even when he couldn't remember Tala, he'd felt an overwhelming urge to make sure that the other was okay. The victim always wants to know if their savior is alright. Tala was always that person to Kai.

It wasn't in a romantic sense. The two boys were _not _like that. It was a simple matter of an intense brotherly bond. The two were supposed to be the future of the world. The actions that they went through were supposed to shape history. That's what they were created for. They cared for each other and they watched out for each other, just like siblings would.

The only difference, was that Tala would literally die if it meant Kai's life...and that was something that many siblings in the audience wondered if they could do. Would Tyson lay down his life for Hiro? He knew that he would do anything for his older brother...but to actually willingly put a bullet in his brain if he was told shoot himself or watch his brother die? He didn't know if that was something he could actually do. He didn't know if he could go through with it. At the same time though, he knew full well that Tala would do it in a heartbeat. He would kill himself without a second thought.

It was those damn masochistic genes that they'd put in him. He was always willing to let others pummel him if it meant the safety of the ones he cared about, and slowly that's where things had gone wrong for Boris. He had designed Tala to have this undying ability to protect Kai, but he hadn't counting on that ability mushrooming over and embracing the other Demolition Boys. He hadn't thought that Tala would sacrifice himself so much for the boys that hadn't been apart of his original mission.

Tala was more then willing and able to protect everyone, and that's why he did it. Boris couldn't stand it, and so he had purposefully tried to beat it out of him. That had been that.

"So...what's Tala's IQ?" Ian finally asked bringing things back to what they'd been discussing earlier. Michaels took a deep breath.

"It's 179." The three boys looked absolutely gobsmacked at such a high number. That was higher then even Einstein's had been. The fact that...it was inconceivable.

The watchers were startled too. They looked towards Kenny and Emily who both had been sitting pretty on I.Q.s equal to those of the Demolition Boys, but now they were staring at the screen with dumbfounded expressions. They couldn't believe what they'd just heard. A 179 was higher then...then well...anyone alive at the moment. They all knew that Tala was smart...but that was undoubtedly far higher then anyone had imagined possible.

"And Kai?" Bryan asked slowly after the other two seemed to be able to overcome the shock.

"Care to make a guess?" Spencer did, and at the same time as Emily breathed out the numbers in her own calculated opinion, the blonde spoke.

"179." And Michaels nodded. There it was. They were genetically similar and therefore they had the same I.Q.s

It was hard to believe that Kai was such a genius, he never showed any apparent signs of extraordinary knowledge, but then again...he was fluent in eight languages – maybe more by now. He was running operations for the ISA at nine...and he was more knowledgeable on somethings than the watchers could ever hope to achieve. He kept all of that to himself and didn't flaunt it too. The very fact he was multi-lingual didn't even come up all that often, and it for some reason it hadn't been a surprise over the Blade Breakers travels to find out that he spoke all their native tongues. In fact...they'd taken it for granted.

Rei could all to easily remember one time when he'd woken up in the middle of the night after a particularly violent dream that had him shaking in a sweat and he knew he'd never be able to go back to sleep. They were at Tyson's house for some reason, he couldn't remember what they were doing there or even what they were supposed to be doing the next day. Maybe they were going to America? Maybe they'd gotten back? He couldn't remember exactly, but that wasn't particularly important. What was important about that night...was what had happened.

_He decided he couldn't go back to sleep. That much was obvious. He simply rolled out of his futon and made his way through the halls of the very traditional house and made his way to the kitchen. He was exhausted, and he was still rattled from a dark dream. Years ago, when his parents had died, Rei had been witness to it all, and on that night, he was particularly vulnerable to the assailing memories that were locked away in his mind. _

_He opened the kitchen door, and went to the fridge easily enough in the dark. He took a deep breath, and opened the door, and winced slightly when the light bit into his eyes. Then after a moment of blindness he looked into the contents of the cool box and he sighed sadly. Tyson had finished all the drinks and snacks there were inside, and there was nothing left but water. He didn't want water though, he wanted something with milk or maybe some juice...hell, even tea was preferable. Not water though. He wanted nothing to do with water at the moment, it just made him think of how his parents had drowned before him._

"_There are kool-aid packets behind the celery." The calm voice made the Chinese boy leap three feet in the air. He spun around, nearly loosing his balance as he staggered to try to figure out who was behind him. Half asleep, he hadn't even heard the approach or recognized who it was._

_It wasn't all that surprising though. From the looks of things, the other teen had been there for a while. He was leaning against the wall in his usual stance, a cup of something hot in his hand and there was something else...a cell phone? In his other hand. _

"_I didn't see you." Rei said awkwardly as he looked into the fridge and saw the packets of mix that his companion had told him about. He didn't get a reply, but he hadn't expected one either. Trying to get Kai to talk was like trying to pry open a steel door with fingernails. It just didn't work out very well. He pulled the red packet out and he looked at in in confusion. "How come Tyson never found these?" He mused slightly as he remembered them to always disappear in the past. _

"_You actually though he would touch something green?" The snide remark actually made him snicker, and he glanced over at his Captain who was looking at his phone. He was pressing a series of keys, and it was strange to see him do it. The small phoenix key chain that hung from it barely took place in his mind..._

"_I didn't think Tyson would ever turn down _any _type of food."_

"_He does when there are less healthy things to worry about." Kai said simply, shrugging lightly. He glanced up, fingers remaining motionless. _

"_What are you doing?" Rei blurted out, he was so curious. He hadn't even seen a cell phone until he got to Japan (living in the mountains would do that to you) and since Kai obviously wasn't calling someone...The russian frowned, taking a sip of his drink._

_"I'm text messaging." He said simply enough, shrugging slightly as he closed the phone and slipped it into his pocket. _

_"What does that mean?" Rei hadn't heard the words before, and he was still trying to understand more about his Captain. The fire wielder frowned slightly and cocked his head to one side. Rei was finally getting him to talk though, and the Chinese boy didn't seem to be able to stop. He wanted to keep talking to his Captain...the boy never spoke to anyone, and that must mean he had something important to say!_

_"It means, that I was sending a message...like an email I guess...to another cell phone...from my cell phone." He said the words slowly, and even though it was clear he thought that Rei was an idiot, Rei thought that it was the most magical thing he'd ever heard of in his life. _

_"How do I do it?" Kai looked like he was losing his patience, when suddenly his hand was back in his pocket and pulling out the phone. He was reading something on it, and he actually cracked a small smirk. It was the first time that Rei thought he saw Kai show any type of genuine emotion towards something so he found himself staring."Who are you talking to?" The smile vanished and a scowl replaced it. He looked up and he glowered over towards the boy. _

_"Someone who works for the BBA under Mr. Dickenson that wanted to know what our schedule was going to be for this week." Rei blinked for a moment and then glanced over towards the clock on the microwave. It was three thirty in the morning. Who could he possibly be talking to at three thirty in the morning? He motioned towards the clock as though to ask the question he'd been thinking. Kai scowled again, and a light on his phone went off at the same time. He looked down at it and from the look on his face, he was trying not to smile again. _

_Stop everything. Kai actually smiled. He actually had to try not to smile. Maybe that's why he was here...maybe that's why he was still up...so he could be away from them. Rei frowned. Did he hate them that much that he didn't want to let himself get involved with them?_

_"What's their name?" Rei knew he was pushing, he knew he was being a nag. He knew that...and Kai told him as much when a withering glare went his way. The boy was not amused. He typed something on his phone, then turned it off. Slipping it into his pocket he drained the rest of his cup and he put it in the sink where he ran water in it. Through it all, Rei didn't move or say a word. He was frozen stiff. Then, Kai turned and walked away, his long white scarf billowing out from behind him._

_"You better be awake to train at eight. I'm not going easy on you just because you decided to get a midnight snack." Then he was gone. Perhaps it was because he'd been frozen in shock already, and perhaps it was because he was expecting to be killed at any moment (for some reason Kai always seemed strangely violent even though he never actually did anything to them...), but it was only then that Rei noticed that the whole time he had been speaking in Mandarin. He had been speaking in Chinese the whole time, and Kai hadn't even batted an eye. In fact, the Russian had even started the conversation in Mandarin. The information was pushed off to the side though, and Rei scampered back to bed his drink and nightmares forgotten – a very live and real Kai was pissed at him and he didn't want to push his luck. _

The memory didn't seem important then, but now Rei realized that it was probably someone from the ISA that Kai had been talking to. More specifically, it was either Anna or Tala, but they had vanished...so it couldn't have been them right? Kai seemed far more sociable in those minutes then he had any other time. He even seemed slightly teasing and friendly. It was short lived, but Kai was still acting half way decent for a change. Then again...There were times when Kai was anything but friend.

_It had been an accident. He hadn't meant to enter without knocking, but it had been a long day and he was exhausted. He walked into the hotel room and hadn't seen his room mate and so he simply shrugged and dropped his stuff off on his bed. _

_Yawning tiredly, he went towards the bathroom and pushed the door open. Much to his surprise, Kai was standing there. He'd whipped around to see who'd opened the door, and now they stood facing each other for a brief moment. Topless, scarf-less, and paint-less; Kai looked years younger and strangely different. Scars adorned his body and around his neck was a simple golden chain with a cross on it. _

_Kai's hair was wet, he'd probably just stepped out of the shower and was shoving into his clothes when Rei had walked in on him. Growling, Kai's hand unconsciously slid up to the necklace that was always hiding under his shirt and scarf , his eyes narrowing angrily at him. The Chinese boy hesitated, curiosity wondering about the necklace (he didn't think Kai was religious), before apologizing hastily. _

"_Sorry Kai, I didn't think-"_

"_No. You didn't think did you?" And the door slammed closed right on his face. So much for acting like friends, let alone a team.  
_

Kenny himself was thinking of a time when he hadn't truly thought much about Kai's intelligence. It had been right before the world championships...before all the drama of Russia at least, he'd been working on building a new blade for everyone and he was exhausted and in a bad mood...

"_Finally!" The whiz kid exclaimed as he held up the newly completed beyblade. He looked at it lovingly for a moment before placing it down on his desk. Stretching he leaned back, and when he did so he yelped as he caught sight of Kai standing not to far away and watching him. He tumbled backwards out of his chair, and the Russian didn't bother to help him stand up...Kai was just like that. "Man Kai! You shouldn't stand behind people like that and not say anything!" The nerdy boy said angrily as he stood up and dusted himself off from invisible particles that could have infected him during his short time on the floor.  
_

"_Sorry." He certainly didn't sound sorry. He moved forwards though and his hand ghosted over the newly completed Dranzer blade that the boy had cooked up. "She mine?" He whispered almost reverently, though he closed his hand on it anyway and he picked it up without asking. Kenny growled. He was tired, and he'd been working all night and he wanted some respect damn it!_

"_Give it back Kai, I'm not done with it yet." The older teen didn't seem to believe him though (and he didn't have to...who knew how long he had been standing there?)_

"_Looks done to me." He muttered stubbornly. Kenny had had enough though. He snatched it out of his hand, and in reality it was probably true that Kai had let him take it, and he slammed it back on the desk angrily. _

"_Well to the untrained eye you're wrong, it's balance isn't quite right, it's disk isn't finished and if you can just-"_

"_The balance is fine. It's better then my old blade by about about two thirds. It's disk is fine too, it's weight is designed for speed and so it's angled appropriately. You said it was done yourself a few minutes ago." Kenny's mouth dropped ever so slightly. Then again, as a professional blader, Kai would know what the changes were and how they'd been modified. It hadn't been for looks alone..._

"_Get out. I don't care if I've been done for a week. You get it when the others get theirs." Kenny was feeling oddly bold at the moment. It was completely out of character, and usually he'd be cowering, but right now he'd had enough. Kai was on his last nerve, and he wasn't getting any appreciation at all. _

_Apparently, Kai noticed it too because his eyes hardened and he gave the boy a look that shook him straight to his roots. Kenny actually almost took a step back he was so intimidated. _

"_The weight's wrong. You're right. It needs to be slightly heavier at the bottom and lighter at the top...and the balance could be better. Maybe if you switched the gears with the newer model F5 and perhaps shaved off some of the edges of the attack ring. Yes...I think that'd be a lot better then that. You're so right. I'll get it tomorrow then?" His voice was like ice, and Kenny could only nod he was so scared. He didn't even question him on how he knew about the types of models and techniques on making the blades. He didn't even think about that. All he thought about was the dangerous person that was in front of him, who was most certainly _pissed off_. _

It was strange, considering how much Kai meant to everyone in the room, and the various things he did to be involved. It was certainly strange, that Kai never once seemed to be remembered in a good way. Everyone always remembered him being angry or pissed off. They never could recall a time when he would playfully sit and banter like he would with his Russian brothers (as he called them).

Bryan, Tala, and Kai made up a comedy team of their own they way they talked. Spencer and Ian were always their little audience and the ones who reigned them in when they took it to far...they were a team that way. It was so strange to think that that was a side of Kai that they had never known.

Kai was actually very smart and bright. IQ aside, he knew how to say the things that mattered most. He had a way with words that could make people flock to him despite them being intimidated. He was very hard to get involved with, but he honestly did think a lot about everyone. He never once let anything bad happen to them – and there was plenty of times for it to happen that way.

He was hard to deal with, that much was obvious. Even the Demolition Boys had a hard time with him. He had a pride that was unshakable, and a passion that was undeniable. He didn't like to lose, and he didn't like to play with people he didn't think highly of. So it was understandable that he wasn't thrilled with the idea of blading with them. At the same time though...he really had tried to open up to them. In the end, he even seemed to slightly enjoy their company. Though...compared to the Demolition Boys, they were nothing. Then again, those guys were his family.

Max was thinking back, remembering one memory for some reason more then all the rest. It had been on one of the few days they'd had a break. They had just finished one tournament and they were getting ready for another. They were in a hotel, and he had walked in to see Kai standing in the rain outside. Their deck didn't have a roof over it and he was getting soaked. In his hand was his cell phone, but he didn't seem to notice that it was probably getting fried. He was looking out over the city.

_Max walked forwards, frowning as he caught sight of his Captain. They'd just had a great win, but for some reason, he looked miserable and depressed. It wasn't unusual to see him sulk, but it was unusual to see him sulk, outside, in the rain. _

_The blonde felt the sudden need to see if his Captain was alright, if nothing else then to bring him a rain coat. So he scooped one off the hook and went outside with it. Kai didn't even glance back. He was staring at the city intently, as though it knew the answers to all of his problems.  
_

"_It's raining Kai, come inside!" He yelled as he held his hands over his head. There was just something about getting your hair wet...Kai didn't move though, he didn't even look like he'd heard him. "Kai! Don't be such a wet blanket, we're having a party!" He turned to look at him when he said 'such a' but wasn't really looking at him, not really. His eyes were heavy. He looked like he was thinking about something long and hard, and he didn't look like he knew what to say to him. "Come on!"_

"_Go away Max." Usually there'd be something else. Some other grunt or groan or some other insult that would make the blonde give up. Yet Kai was oddly complacent tonight. He looked back over the city, his knuckles turning white around the phone. The rain was falling over his head, his face, drenching his cheeks. Slight tremors were going through his body, and Max knew that he had been out to long. He was shivering! _

"_Come on Kai! At least come inside and sulk in your room! Take a hot shower or something. You're going to get sick!" _

"_If you could do one thing in the world, anything at all, right now what would it be?" The question was so far in left field that Max actually stared for a few moments in confusion. Kai wasn't looking at him, he was looking out over the city. The cell phone from before had vanished and in its place was Dranzer. He was holding it almost tenderly, certainly not like the clenched fists he had before. _

"_I guess...I'd go see my dad. See how he was doing." He said. It had been a while since the last time he'd seen him...The answer made Kai stiffen slightly. He closed his eyes and nodded briefly before looking down at the ground beneath them. "Why? What would you do?" _

"_I'd go to Russia." The answer was so soft and so quiet that it was barely heard over the rain that fell around them. Max frowned heavily before crossing his arms._

"_The World Championships are coming soon enough Kai. You don't need to be so impatient about it, and there's no need to get yourself sick. Now enough of this, come on inside or you'll get a cold." Kai leveled him with a deadly glance. _

"_Do not presume you know me or my mind. Get out. Leave me in peace. Just..._all of you _leave me the hell alone."_

"_What's your problem Kai!?" The normally happy go lucky kid was sick of his attitude. He was sick of everything that Kai was doing. The boy was just acting like a first rate ass hole now, and he was trying to help!_

"_My problem is I'm here! I shouldn't be here! I should be _there! _I should be anywhere but here, with you kids. It's all your fault! Everything is all your fault! Why'd it have to be you!? Why couldn't it be someone else?! Why'd it have to be _you!" _The boy turned to him, the words raising with emotion and an intensity that Max rarely saw the boy put off. The words sounded so lost, Kai was actually really broken up about being with them...he really hated them that much..._

"_It doesn't matter what you think of us. You can hate us if you want to, but we're your team-"_

"_You will never be my team. None of you accept me as your Captain, none of you respect me as a __person, and so I'm not going to do the same for you. We were never a team. We're not a team, and you most certainly aren't _my _team." The words were so harsh that Max stared for a moment. _

"_Kai! We've always respected you as a person! We've always accepted you as our Captain."_

"_Oh really, and so how come you never listened to me when I tried to train you all? How come you never did what I said when I told you to? How come when I tried to get you to grow up, because this world isn't your playground and you can't just act like children in this game, you all ignored me! When I first got here none of you accepted or respected me. Damn Mr. Dickenson for making this deal. I never should have gotten involved."_

"_Didn't you want to defend your title as 'world champion,' isn't that why you joined our team?" _

"_No. Not at all. I could have done that by myself." Kai snickered, and Max dropped his eyes towards the ground where he saw a bottle of some kind resting by the teen's feet. _

"_Are you drunk?" He muttered in awe. Kai raised an eyebrow and then looked at the tequilla on the ground. _

"_Maybe." He agreed lightly. He looked out again, and then a tone rang through the air. He slipped his hand into his pocket and he read what it had to say. Closing his eyes he reached down and took another sip of the burning liquid before stumbling inside. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand anyway." Was all he said before he disappeared into the hotel. Moments later the sound of a shower came on and Max was left standing on the deck in confusion as rain beat down on his head._

Tyson was thinking about his own Kai memory now. He was being brought back to one particularly horrible day where Kai was actually finally losing his temper to the point of primal screaming. He'd already kicked one garbage can and in a rare show of emotions was actually cursing at them.

"_I don't understand what is so difficult with this! You're being this ignorant on purpose!" Kai was physically shaking with rage and the other Blade Breakers were wincing, looking anywhere but at their Captain who looked like he wanted to do nothing more then strangle each and every one of them. That is...almost all the Blade Breakers were looking away._

_Ever the bane of Kai's existence and his number one rival in all things, Tyson was standing tall and proud and he too was getting pissed off. They'd been training non-stop for days now and Kai wasn't letting up at all. He was insisting that they get this new technique down, he wasn't sure why – it didn't seem like it was going to help much – but Kai was adamant on it. _

"_Well excuse me for breathing! It's not that difficult to give us a break every now and then is it?! We're tired, and we've been at this all day!"_

"_Suck it up! You think this is hard? Well I can up the ante on _you _boy any time I please. This is child's play!" He was hissing dangerously, and he looked like he was going to turn lethal any moment now. _

"_You're not doing it! You're just standing there ordering us around! Why don't you do it if you're so clever! Don't forget _captain _I was the one who beat you at the tournament so don't you think you're better just because you're our leader!" _

_There was something that flashed in the Russian's eyes. He just hit his breaking point. He was infuriated so much that he could hardly move. He was just staring at Tyson with those red eyes that promised death and suffering in the future. Then, ever so slowly, he reached into his pocket and he pulled out his beyblade._

"_You want to see this technique? Hmm? You want to see me do it? Because I _can't_?" He was speaking slowly, and yet his voice was sending shivers down Tyson's spine. The boy realized he'd just pushed his captain a little to far, and it seemed like the other was more then ready to just take a swing at him and get rid of him. "All I can say...is don't you dare fucking move you idiot."_

_Dranzer was in the launcher before anyone could blink and suddenly she was out and spinning towards Tyson. The blade shot passed his ear and cut his bangs ever so slightly before it hit the ground and from the force of the attack managed to bounce off the ground and straight into Tyson's baseball cap. The hat went flying and Dranzer hit the ground. Once more the force of it hitting the ground sent it upwards and it nicked Tyson's leg. The bouncing was going faster now, and everyone was too mesmerized to stop it. _

_Besides, Tyson wasn't really getting hurt...and this was amazing. For days Kai had been insisting that if you could launch your blade appropriately they could knock the other blade out of the dish the moment it landed. The angle that you had to shoot it in had to be perfect but the blade would literally start recoiling off the ground and attacking the other blade. _

_The fact that Kai was demonstrating not on a beyblade where the angles didn't have to be so extreme, but on Tyson, and that each recoil of the blade hitting the ground and bouncing back up was astounding. He had to have planned each jump before he launched it. Once it was out of the launcher, it was pure will that made the blade move the way it was supposed to. _

_When Dranzer finally moved back to Kai where she spun dutifully in front of him, Kai stared at Tyson with eyes that clearly showed he wasn't amused in the slightest. He was more pissed off then he'd ever been around these brats, and he didn't want to deal with them at all. _

Tyson was hearkened back to that day in Hong Kong where Rei had been their server. They'd been sitting at that table and Mr. Dickenson had talked to them about the plans for the Asia tournament. Kai had been particularly difficult that day. It was the start of their team, and the whole time he'd been frustrated and pissed off. He didn't want to be involved with them, and he didn't want to deal with them.

That much had been obvious since before he'd even joined their team. The video tapes showed it clearly. He wanted the Blade Breakers to lose...because if that happened then his friends, his real friends, wouldn't have to lose to them. There were penalties for loosing. There were penalties for having people not make it in the end. If the boys lost they'd be badly hurt, and Kai knew that.

Despite everything, he was planing on returning to Russia and join up with the Demolition Boys, perhaps defeating the All Starz who were the runner ups the past two years in a row. It was probably why he had so little patience for them. Even in the hotel the night before that breakfast...Kai had lost his patience completely

"_That bed! It'd be pefect for a pillow fort!" Tyson had run into the room, but he was quickly grabbed by the back of his shirt. He looked back at his captain who was standing there looking less then happy...as always. _

"_Will you learn to grow up? This isn't play time remember?" There was something in his eyes, he was tired, and he didn't want to deal with these punk kids anymore. He didn't want to even look at them. He was completely spent. His patience was down the drain. _

"_Why don't you try smiling Kai or are you just afraid your face will crack?" Tyson teased as he wriggled free and ran to the room. _

"_What?" He was startled to say the least, no one had ever spoken ho him like that before, and he most certainly didn't think that Tyson would have the balls to say it that was for certain. _

"_Yeah! I here by declare this fort nap time!" The younger boy was laughing and jumping back on the bed. _

"_You're such a wet blanket. Why don't you loosen up a little and have a little fun? Tyson's got the right idea!" Completely hyped up for no reason, something Kai was starting to realize was just Max's way, the boy was running to jump on the bed too. Kai actually felt his blood start to boil. He couldn't stand looking at their idiocy._

"_Why did I ever come here? I'm no baby sitter..." The quiet boy mused slightly, looking away. _

"_Wah wah, can you get us some soda and chocolate bars and then could you read us a story please?" That pushed all the right buttons and Kai turned and walked away without another word._

Looking back on it, it was entirely likely that Kai had been thinking about his own lost childhood, or perhaps his friends. Those boys in the Abbey who never had the privalage to jump on a bed or laugh like idiots.

In truth though, Kai really had trained them to be professionals. They were far above what they used to be, and that was saying something. Kai may not have liked them, but he certainly did what he was supposed to do. He trained them, and in the end...he seemed to open up to them. He tried to befriend them in the only way he knew how – in the only way that he had ever befriended anyone.

Even Anna had been subjected to the cold and cruel way that he conducted himself. He was not one to start gushing niceties and things of that nature. He was someone who said it as it was and took enjoyment out of teasing others.

_"Hold on a minute. I can win every one of my match ups, but we don't advance unless the rest of this frat pack wins?" Kai was pissed. He was even greater then pissed. _

In hindsight...was it because he had thought that he could carry them on his back the whole way to make Mr. Dickenson's plan work? Did he really always have so little faith in them? Then the answer proved itself instantly. The only people he ever had faith in were his family members...he never once trusted anyone else.

"_Well yes...but with this...frat pack...nothing will defeat us. If we stick together kids nothing can defeat us. There's no I in team, remember that." Mr. Dickenson seemed to be trying hard to get Kai to approve, and Kai didn't want anything to do with it. _Kai never really did like the man...even on the tapes it was clear he wasn't a fan.

"_Yeah, well sorry, there's no Kai in team either." _

"_Kai come on, we're a team, don't leave."_

"_A team with these joker babies? You've got to be kiddin' me."_

"_What?" Tyson knew an insult when he heard one, and he was getting irritated now. _

"_I've had it up to here with your team." Then he'd left. _

Kai always came back though. It was in his nature to come back – just like Mr. Dickenson had said. Yet it was clear that the older man knew of Kai's issues and problems. The man new for a fact that Kai didn't like his new team mates. To him...it must have felt like he was replacing his friends, and he couldn't do that.

Drawn away from their memories, the watchers looked at the screen where there was still a conversation taking place. The three teens were talking to Michaels and they were discussing other things...things about Mikhail who apparently had decided to join the ISA.

Michaels told them that the newly appointed guard was not informed that the other three were involved, he thought it would be best that that was kept secret. Bryan just shrugged and agreed. Mikhail was a part of their group now, and that meant he was going to be given a job soon. It probably overlapped what the three were already doing, but as a guard he got more information about things. It was good to have him.

Bryan smiled slightly, he liked the idea of all of his friends working together, clearly. Then as the screen faded, the boys stood up and got ready to leave.

**Windstar: **Well that's that. I hope you all enjoy. Updates will be every Monday and Thursday for a while, and maybe more as we get closer to August 19th. Since I'm finished writing it, I'm not all that concerned anymore it's just a matter of posting.

So we'll put it to the vote, if you would prefer it once a week (somehow I don't see anyone voting for this) say so and I'll do that.

If you want the biweekly posts, say so and that'll be what happens.

Hope you're all doin well, thanks to my two great reviewers from last chapter, you guys are awesome and I love the dedication!

Also to answer the question about why last chapter was called "White Lady" it's a bit of a foreshadow for the future, and if anyone wants to do the research on it they're welcome too. I bet the Supernatural fans of the world could pick up on it instantly. I don't want to explain too much here, but it doesn't have to do with her name, nor does it even have to do with her race or outfit. It's something all together...more complex. That being said, tata!


	22. Returning to the Dark

**Windstar: **Well tickle me pink and color me yellow, I have to say, you all made my day when I logged on and saw the astounding number of reviews for chapter twenty, and some of them were new reviewers too! I'd like to extend my thanks to each and every one of you: Fallen-Hope Angel, JenEvan, FlamingIce94, HimekoSukie, Yuliya, and Marishka. Thanks you to everyone, it was something that truly made me wordless with delight.

This chapter discusses some on the names of characters, a promise that I'd made earlier to Marishka and here is my fulfillment of that promise.

I know some of you looked up the White Lady legend, and all I have to say on the topic of the actual legend is that it won't really take place in this. There's a reason I called it that, but it's more metaphorical then practical. Besides, we all know that Tala's survived and I've stated before that Kiril plays a part in the sequel, so no fear on that note.

There will be a lot of flashbacks and actual scenes from the show coming up. I can't avoid them, so you'll get to see many parallels between the show and this in order to accommodate all curiosities on how things are going in the actual story line.

I'm going to try to make it more obvious when it switches between the tape and the present world. I know at times it can be confusing, and I will be having some scenes from the hospital coming up in the future, I'll try to make those stand out a bit more.

Thanks once more to all the reviewers and now for my Disclaimer and story:

**Official Disclaimer: **Beyblade does not belong to me, while many scenes are quoted and cited, this is not a work that is receiving profit in anyway. All quotes belong specifically to the anime and are all the creation of _those _writers. I did not write them and claim no ownership over the quotes that may or may not appear in this work. The only thing that I lay claim to is that of the characters not belonging to the original creaters of Beyblade and all those responsible for the production of that work.

**Chapter: Twenty-One**

Mikhail slid food into Marina's cell and the woman looked up at him sadly. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and looked away. Marina's pale hand reached through the bars of the cell and touched his. She looked so kind and so sweet just sitting there that he found that he couldn't do anything except for look away. He felt like such an idiot.

"I'm sorry." She murmured gently as she looked at him. It was so obviously him. Even with the cloak and the strange get up, Mikhail was so obviously the guard that was standing across from her. She looked at him with such concern, and as she moved closer, it became rather apparent that she was showing signs of pregnancy.

The watchers hissed. It was obvious who the father was, and from the bruises on her face, they could only shudder at the thought of what must have happened to her. Mikhail was having a hard time looking at her, and she was trying to smile lightly at him and let him know that she was alright.

Kiril was sleeping in the corner, a blanket pulled up to his chin. He looked so tiny as he lay there quietly. He looked so sweet and so charming. He wouldn't be for long. Michaels threatening words about how Kiril could very well be still brought into the program was something that the watchers knew would be a possibility. Even if he wasn't exactly like his older brother, Kiril was still someone Boris would want to control eventually.

"What are _you _sorry for?" He asked her softly. He raised his eyes to look at her, and the watchers couldn't help but gasp as they realized that he was looking at her with such tender affection. Somewhere along the way, Mikhail had honestly started to like Tala's mother...

"You got promoted but you're only allowed to be down here and make sure no one sees me." Marina told him lightly. Mikhail sighed and stepped back, his eyes slipping to Kiril for a brief moment before he looked back at his apparent charge.

"I don't mind." He muttered. "It's better then working in the kitchens...although the meal plan down here is most certainly...lacking..." He was glancing towards the solitary plate of food. He looked over towards little Kiril who was still sleeping angelically and then back towards the pregnant woman who wasn't even touching it. He knew, as well as the watchers, and as well as her, that the plate was the child's. She'd probably lie, say that she'd already eaten. She might even nibble on it a little if Kiril asked her too, but the food was for her son, it wasn't for her. She wouldn't take it. Maybe that self sacrificing gene wasn't completely tampered with...hell, it could be hereditary.

She touched her stomach slightly before raising her hand to her mouth. Her eyes rose up to look at Mikhail who winced and looked away before she ran off to the corner of her cell and promptly threw up what little she probably had in her. He closed his eyes, and his lips moved as though he were counting to ten then restarting.

He was most likely fighting his gag reflex, or his anger, and he was trying hard to do it. He glanced towards the bed when bronze hair shifted slightly. Kiril was slowly sitting up, awakened by the sound of his mother retching.

"Mama?" He looked scared and Mikhail moved forwards, motioning for him to come to him.

"Don't worry, come here and eat your food. I'll even show you my bitbeast...look it's an eagle...She'll be alright. It's the baby." Brown eyes looked up at him.

"Do babies make you get the foo?" He askes as he looked at the bit.

"Flu, and no, it's something else...similar I guess." How does one explain morning sickness to a four year old? He was trying to not get sick, and he knew that the two would have to be moved from the cell sooner or later so that someone could clean up the mess. She was dry heaving now and he was trying to distract the child.

"_He _says I's gots a new brover comin'." Mikhail nodded.

"It's true."

"If I's gots a _new _brover, wheres da old one?" The young man hesitated. He didn't know exactly how to respond. Bronze hair and brown eyes, he didn't look like Tala all that much, but there was that stubborn inquisitive streak that ran through both of them. They certainly acted the same way...and Mikhail could only hope that the child didn't grow up to be completely like Tala or he'd have to admit he liked the older boy as well.

"Far away. You probably won't get to meet him for a while."

"Is he Yuri?" The child was brighter then he first thought that was for certain.

"Yes."

"Is gots anothers questions." The boy really needed to get out of the habit of pluralizing every word he said. The older man just nodded though, showing he'd try to answer if he could.

"Hows the baby gonna come out if it's in mama?" Mikhail's mouth actually dropped, and from the corner he could here the soft giggles of Marina who clearly had stopped her morning sickness.

He blinked once, twice, and then couldn't think of anything to say. He tried to formulate a PG or G version of it, but he honestly couldn't think of anything. He felt like a complete moron, being out witted by a three year old, and he really wanted nothing to do with this child and his inquisitions at the moment. They were too...adult for him.

"The same road it went in." He supplied after a while. The boy tilted his head to one side and the very Tala-like motion pissed him off. He stood up straighter and looked at Marina. "I'll be back down in a little while to get someone to clean up the mess...maybe get you a bucket or something." The screen faded with him walking up the stairs and leaving the two behind.

The next thing that came on didn't make much sense, and it wouldn't because the watchers realized that they were not watching a security camera anymore. In fact, this was a series of emails that had been sent to people in code and the various key strokes and the words didn't make sense put together. It was all very strange.

A subtitle came on, this one from Anna herself and having nothing to do with the files presented on the screen. _Kenny these have been used in the Alpha form coding system. I'm sure you can get Dizzy to __decode it. There's a hard copy version of these papers in the folders I left behind. _That was all, and then the screen moved to the next camera and the story was unfolding itself again.

Kenny scooped up the papers after the movie was put on hold and he looked them over before giving Dizzy the information. The computer started to run it through various decoding processes before finally she came up with something. Everyone gathered around the computer and looked down as they started to read what Dizzy had to offer. There weren't complete sentences, but if one squinted they could almost make out what the purpose of it was saying.

_To: F.T. K+I, _

_Subject: BDS_

_BD comp. BBA Off. Hugh. Obt file - ._

The next message was a clear response to the first and it read a little easier to understand.

_To: LAK_

_Re: BDS_

_Understood. BBA Off Dick. Contacted. File trans. Comp. Tlkd w/ P.F.O.T.L Mich. Pckge snt & rec - _

_To F.T. K+I_

_Subject: Hm_

_view. 1. 1200. 2 wks. _

_To: LAK_

_Re: Hm_

_Understood. _

The last message was the strangest. The sender was unknown, but it wasn't in reply to the messages in the past.

_To: LA, F.T. K+I_

_Re: ABORT_

_ABORT hm. K. gone. Info. To send. Rpt. ABORT. Sty Itly. _

"What the hell does all of that mean?" Tyson asked, his voice betraying his awe. He looked so surprised by it that it was clear he was trying to work out the strange abbreviations and code words that were used even after the whole thing had been broken down from its original state.

"My guess...is that someone's sending information about the BD Server to and from a certain access point. Look there....F.T K+I....what did they call their operation? Something about freedom right? K+I when you say it together is Kai..." Kenny was looking at the messages and biting his lip. LAK...isn't L&A what Anna and... _Luka _called themselves in those last two letters they wrote?" The others nodded.

"So that means...Korg's with them. He has to be the K, Michaels had said something about Korg working on the server with them. Then there's the names...from what it looks like, Hugh is short for Hughes...Christopher Hughes, because Dick would be short for Dickenson, and Mich would be short for Michaels. It's the first four letters of their last names." Emily added on as she looked at the notes that had been translated.

"What does it mean though...when it says that K is gone...?" Mariah whispered softly. "Is...he..._dead_? Is Korg Dead?"

The moment she said that though someone hit the play button. Michaels was running into a hospital, out of breath and looking as though he were about to pass out. He barely made it three steps in when Christopher met up with him, his face grim. There was a bandage around his head and there was a cut on his lip but other then that he looked fine.

"Korg?" Michaels asked softly, although he already seemed to know the answer.

"Dead. He was shot in the chest. The doctors tried to save him...but it was too late. He died about twenty minutes ago." Christopher whispered softly. Michaels cursed softly and he clenched his fists. He looked away from the man and he took a deep shuddering breath.

"Damn it all to hell. Where are the kids? Are they still in Livorno?"

"No, I called their home, but there's nothing. They're not on the cells either. I called Kai."

"Why the fuck would you call Kai?" Various patients' families looked up from where they were sitting down and stared at him, and Christopher gave him a look that told him he'd better shut up.

"In case they checked in when him."

"Did they?"

"Yes. He didn't say where they were headed. Just that they were gone, then he hung up."

"Do you have any idea where he is right now?" Michaels growled hatefully.

"No." The man replied honestly.

"He's with the _Blade Breakers _in China. They just defeated the Asian tournament. They'll be coming to Russia in seven months. I can't believe you called him without contacting me or Dickenson. If that boy goes rogue because of this..." The man trailed off, his warning clear. Christopher just nodded. "Find those kids. It took us enough time and money to track them down. I want to know where they are and where they're headed. Where was the meeting point supposed to be?"

"Zurich...Korg came to Russia early in order to pick up some files he had in his office. We were headed to the airport when..."

"The kids have the information then I'm betting?"

"Yes. All of it."

"Send someone to Zurich in case Anna didn't get the missive, I want eyes and ears on every air port, train station, ticket booth _anything. _You find me those kids before Boris does. Does he know...about what they were doing? Did Boris find out?" Christopher was shaking his head though.

"Korg was doing the research by himself according to all of his files. He never went to Livorno, he never went anywhere. All of their information was sent through various files and encodings and they were all untraceable. They've had a firewall system up for four months. Those kids were never found. They're still in the clear."

"That's good to know...I'm going to call Voltaire, the others need to know. They're all going to miss his funeral...not one of them will be able to go..."

Max felt as though the air was sucked out of his chest. He remembered now...that rainy day that he'd gotten into that argument with Kai. It was just after the Asian tournament...right before they went home for a brief hiatus and went to America...that day was the day he'd found out about his friend's father's death. No wonder he'd been in such a bad mood, he'd worked with the man for six years and now he was gone and he couldn't even attend his funeral.

The screen faded and when it came back, Spencer and Ian were facing off against each other. The both of them were staring into each others eyes with dark pain and fury rising through their gazes. They were pissed off. Their blades shot out from each other's gun launchers...

It felt good to pull that trigger. That trigger that with only a different setting could mean the difference between a blade launching out and a bullet. It felt good to pull it because it meant the end of all things. It meant the end of everything. Just like the end of a life. They were in control of that now.

The blue and purple blades fought against each other. They grappled with each other. Ian's fangs sinking deep into the defences of the whale. The two slammed against each other, sending them backwards and then slamming again. This wasn't a fight with grace and calculation, this was a fight of death and pain and suffering. The two were tired and they were pissed off, and they were hurting.

From behind them the entire school was watching. All the hundreds of beybladers that the Abbey had in it were staring at the battle as it waged forth. The two hurting bladers were chocking back on the pain they felt and putting it forth in raw energy and hate. They were fighting over who was more infuriated, and they were making some of the hardest attacks and defences ever. They wanted pain and suffering and tragedy. They wanted the others to feel the pain they were feeling, so screw it if the dish broke and things were flying towards their audience, screw it if people hurt. They didn't care.

Kiril was off to the side, standing with the younger boys in the front. Mikhail was not to far away, watching quietly, his eyes more focused on Kiril though and making sure the little boy didn't get hurt or was doing something wrong. Yet the child was fully alert and his eyes were locked right where they were supposed to be – the ring.

Spencer had spent most of his life working for the ISA. He had grown up as a secret agent, feeding them information, getting things worked out, making guards get caught on camera. Spencer was responsible for all of that under cover bullshit, and now, he was starting to realize that even the ISA made mistakes. Even Kai made mistakes.

Korg was dead. The technician who made all of their equipment and all of their work. The man who was the master hacker who taught them all what they were supposed to do. The man with the crazy grey hair and the soft spoken attitude. He knew where all the cameras were everywhere and he was rarely caught on them. He wasn't the most important person in their lives, but he was still someone they knew.

He was a life damn it! One of the lives they should have been protecting. He was one of the lives that deserved to live after Boris' siege. He was the man who adopted Anna and gave her a family when she desperately needed one. He was the one who had always looked after their friend when they weren't around. He was important to them if only because he was important to her.

It pissed them off. They called out their bit beasts and the blades spun around each other while debris from their various attacks went flying. They didn't take note of the fact that they were bleeding or that they were hurting. That didn't matter. They just wanted to get this over with. The blades went up and they started to slam and twist against each other. The snake wrapped around the whale, and the whale head butted the snake.

Water drenched them, poison lifted through the air. They didn't care or take notice. They didn't care at all. They only cared about the battle. The battle had nothing to do with the pain their bodies were feeling. They twisted and groaned. They pounced and moaned. They fought and struggled, and the battle went on.

Boris was watching them easily enough, nodding when he liked what they did, frowned when he saw a careless defense or attack. It didn't matter though. Next to Bryan, these two were the best in the Abbey. They were people to be proud of. That was why he had them preform in front of everyone. So everyone knew what to reach for. He was not disappointed by their efforts.

Spencer was the most silent out of all of the Demolition Boys. He looked over the other two members, and when he was there, he looked out for Tala too. He was very stern and quiet, but he also had a very domineering presence about him. He was not one to let anything go by. He was a natural leader who only followed orders because he understood the chain of command.

Bryan was the unofficial Captain of the team now that Tala had left. He was the best out of the three and that meant that he had the most say when things came down to it. Yet Spencer was most certainly a close second. Bryan respected his blonde "brother" and he listened to him because sometimes he tended to be to hot headed and Spencer saw things more clearly.

Ian was different though. Ian didn't like getting involved with things. He was a follower and that was that. He would do anything that Spencer or Bryan told him to do. He was someone who didn't really like getting his feet wet until he was prepared to go swimming. He stayed on the shoreline and waited.

That wasn't to say that he didn't care. Not at all. Ian cared about his friends just as much as they cared for him, but he wasn't...motivated. Ian didn't carry the motivation or the passion for some of the crazy things that they did. Ian was the one that was the front line. He was the one that stood out before everyone and was the first round of defense. In all the attacks that the Blade Breakers had with the Demolition boys, it had ben Ian who had initiated them all. He had been responsible for all of the starts of the fights.

But those were all orders. He was always under orders. There was a reason why Bryan was closer with Tala and Kai then Ian was. Bryan had a mind of his own and he followed that mind. He went out of his way at times to follow his mind. He was commonly teased and swatted and made fun of for it, but he didn't care. He had a plan and he did whatever it was his plan said.

Ian was a follower who went along with the older boys. In all honesty, he never really had all that many problems in the Abbey. He always did what he was told and he always excepted what was happening around him. Sure he knew that it was wrong, that was why he was with the ISA, but if the others hadn't gotten involved, he probably wouldn't have joined up either.

Spencer was more motivated then Ian, but he wasn't the driving force that Bryan was. He was simply a mute thinker who had a lot on his mind but didn't have a lot to do. He followed orders and he kept his head down. If Bryan and Tala wanted to get their asses handed to them, then that was one thing, hell even Kai got it a few times, but that was what made them so moving to follow.

Spencer was the oldest out of all of them. Anna not counting at all. It was his job to provide words of wisdom, and his job to make people see reason. So when the three idiots got their tempers in a titty and they couldn't get their heads out of their asses, he stepped in to straighten them out and diffuse the situations.

Of course, he probably wouldn't put it like that...the oldest teen was quiet and he thought a lot about the world. He wanted to be a Biologist, perhaps with a specialization in Marine Biology. He liked animals and he liked the way they interacted...maybe an Ecologist then...or perhaps a Zoologist like Tala's mother.

Any of those things would be fine. Any of them would be acceptable. He just knew that he didn't want to beyblade for the rest of his life. When they were younger, the boys would listen to him while he spoke about various animals and various stories. He told them all legends and myths that he'd heard of. He'd even gone and told them all about what their individual names meant.

Tala unsurprisingly was a Native American name for "wolf." Kai meant "keeper of the keys" and that worked rather well since Sacha meant man's defender. Ian meant "God is gracious." Bryan meant "high" or "noble." Which was strange, considering Spencer meant "butler" or "steward." As for where on earth Luka came from Kai was being relatively stupid there and probably had no idea that it meant "from Lucania." In all honesty, it had no meaning whatsoever that had anything to do at all with who Tala was. It was just a nice sounding name that was relatively common in Russia. Kai had probably picked it up from his time with his parents.

What was ironic was that Boris meant "battle" or "fight." Something that they dealt with every day of their lives. Spencer was a walking textbook of information. He seemed to know anything and everything. Everyone loved to listen to him talk. He was special that way...it gave him purpose. It gave him a reason to fight.

The two blades swirled around each other and clashed one last time. Both went flying out of the dish and into their bladers' respected hands. The two boys were panting heavily, but the match was over. They looked over towards their Director who nodded slightly and motioned for the two to step away from the dish. Boris was going to speak.

The man moved forwards before them all. He walked tall and proud as he stood in the center of the room. Mikhail met Spencer's gaze as he passed, and the blonde looked down at Tala's baby brother who was looking at Boris with a dumbfounded expression. He looked so ready to believe everything that came out of this man's mouth.

This innocent child...he was being raised to think that everything this man did was right. He was going to be another Abbey enthusiast, and nothing that his mother or anyone else said would change that. Maybe right now, he was alright. Maybe right now he was okay. But in a year...two years...three...he would be just like they were. Brain washed soldiers who followed orders obediently with no thoughts of the outside world.

When Spencer met Mikhail's gaze there was a silent agreement there. If everything looked like it was going to fall apart...if everything looked like it was going to be over...and that they weren't going to win...Kiril was leaving with them. Kiril wasn't going to stay in this Abbey.

Mikhail wasn't stupid. He knew that Spencer, Ian, Bryan, and most likely Tala were all apart of the ISA with Anna. He had to have known. It was why the three teens hadn't taken it all that seriously when Michaels had said that he was going to keep them a secret. Mikhail had to have known....just like he had known all about Anna and Tala.

He was Anna's friend as well. They'd met at that party, they'd spoken during tournaments. The two of them were friendly towards each other. Mikhail had known who she was, and because Tala was in love with her, he had to have known that Tala had been apart of the ISA too just like him. It was obvious.

Spencer and Ian stood at attention beside Bryan as Boris started to talk. His words were sickly sweet and he was a professional orator. He was there to speak. He was there to make everyone think that he was right. He was there...to make their lives hell.

"Many of you have been here since you were young." He began slowly. He started to walk back and forth along the line. Looking each person in the eyes, drawing all their attention to him. "Many of you have been born in this very Abbey and have grown up under my tutelage!"

"What an ass hat." Tyson muttered as he looked at the eerie goggles that Boris had on his face.

"No joke." Rei nodded.

"For many years we have trained you to be the best and brightest of your ages. You five hundred students are the most talented boys in the world right now!"

"He really lays it on thick doesn't he?" Michael asked as he leaned back on the couch.

"In seven months there will be the next World Championships! Everyone will attend because when we win, we're going to set our ultimate plan into motion. From this point onwards, half of your schedules will be modified so you will continues your training. The other half of your schedule will now be devoted entirely on the mastering of the plan and the movements that will take place on that day. Do you all understand?!"

"Sir, we understand and agree with you!" All five hundred boys said at once. Kiril even said it, though his voice was over shadowed by the hundreds of children around him.

"We are expecting a very special guest soon. Seven months from now we shall be in control of the greatest weapon the world has ever seen. From there we will be able to put into action our plan and we will be able to destroy this society that mocks our existence. There will be no one who can stand up to us.

"Each one of you will be the rulers of the world! You will be the army that brings this despicable planet into justice. All under my rule! Your bit beasts will pave the way to a revolution and we will be able to have true peace and freedom! We will win! We will have victory!"

"Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!" The kids intoned, in perfect unison.

The door to the room blew open then. Startled, the guards looked towards it. No one was supposed to have opened that door. Everyone was there in this room. Boris frowned heavily. He looked at Mikhail who nodded and quickly moved back and closed it. He returned to his station within moments.

"Seven months and we will be in the position to tell this world that we are taking over. Everyone will follow us. Everyone will become one with us. We will be able to show them that they are weak and they need guidance. We will finally be able to show them where they went wrong! The weak will be killed and the strong will survive. That is the law of nature, and that is what must be imposed. Only the strong will make it! We will make it!"

Again the door blew open, a rippling wind shooting into the room and surrounding everyone before settling. Some of the younger kids were starting to get restless. They looked around nervously as they tried to understand what was happening. Boris's veins were all but popping out of his head he looked so pissed off. He motioned for the door to be closed again, and for it to be locked this time.

No wind was going to ruin this for him. He was finally getting ready for the count down. He was finally getting his two cents in. The door was closed once more, the latch locking it hard and he continued as though there had been no interruption.

"Now, are you ready my children? Are you ready to take your steps into the land of freedom and passion? Are you ready to show the world that you are the best that there ever was? Are you ready to show everyone that you are the greatest?!"

"Sir, we are ready, sir!" The boys shouted loudly.

"This is the step to freedom! This is the step to a new world era. Have I ever led you wrong?"

"Sir, you've never led us wrong!"

"Have I hever done anything that wasn't in your benefit?!"

"Sir, you've always looked after us!" Such practiced words. They were brainwashed soldiers. The only one who had trouble with saying it was Kiril, and that's because this was probably the first time he ever stepped foor into a situation like this. The little boy just followed along though, his eyes wide as he soaked up all the words his father said.

"In seven months-"

The door was hit with a pummling force, and he stopped short. He glared at it. The door was whammed again. This time the force even greater then it was before. Bryan broke position and turned his head, looking at it in curiosity. Everyone was shifting in worry. They didn't know what was happening, but they were starting to get a little concerned.

The wood creaked under the strain. It's latch holding it in place, but the pressure still hitting it harder and harder. The wind was crashing against it like a tornado, and it was crumbling under the effects. Boris was staring at it, slack jawed. He couldn't bring himself to remember what it was he was going to say. The door was too pressing.

He was about to order some of his guards to go and stand by the door and keep it from opening, but he thought better of it. He knew that that would only appear weak in front of these people who were so critical. Instead he took on this challenge like the threat it obviously was. He motioned for Bryan, Spencer, and Ian to take their positions before the door.

Instantly the three fell next to each other. Side by side they raised their launchers and they prepared to fire. The door creaked. It groaned. It sounded like it was undergoing torture. Those who had been on the three were reminded of what it sounded like to hear the slashes and knocks that created these sounds. They shivered as they thought about such thoughts.

By now, the whole room was looking at the door that had no one at it. They stared at it as it creaked and turned and warped and bended. They stared as the latch quivered. They stared as it looked like it was going to be blown away. Through it all, the Demolition Boys stood with their blades up and ready to defeat whatever was behind that door. Whatever had come to attack the Abbey, they were ready to destroy.

The door groaned once more and it bellowed angrily at them. Nobody said a word though. They just looked at it, and waited to see what was happening. The wind was increasing, there seemed to be a storm on the other end. Whatever it was, it was evil and it was scary. It was all powerful. Kiril was starting to shake slightly. He was getting scared.

Mikhail quickly stepped in front of him so that Boris couldn't see the boy. He would not have the child hit for being scared. He would see no harm to the boy. He wouldn't let it happen. Kiril leaned into him, his eyes looking back at the door as it splintered and as the latch started to give way to the blinding force that was battering into it.

"Shh...it's alright. You'll see...everything's going to be fine." Mikhail muttered to the boy, and the child nodded, though his eyes were still wavering and he looked terribly afraid.

Then, all of a sudden, with a loud bashing noise the door was thrown open. The latch shattered under the force and the wooded sides of it were thrown into the sides of the stone wall. Snow filled the room, blowing everywhere with a billowing wind that caught everyone by their coat tails and whipped them viciously.

Bryan let his blade fly and with it, Ian and Spencer followed. Falborg was summoned quickly enough, and the two winds clashed against each other, the wind died down slightly, but then, just like that...a lone howl filled the halls of the abbey. Bryan froze. His eyes wide, his mouth dropping ever so slightly. With his indecision, Falborg dissapeared from view.

The howling got louder, and the snow was shooting forwards, surrounding the three challengers and wrapping around them like a cloak. The wind increased and the whole Abbey seemed to shake and creak. Boris was staring in dumb awe at the sight, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, or hearing.

Kiril was crying now, terrified because he was certain he saw the three teens die since they were no longer visible. Mikhail though, Mikhail just smirked. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and told him that everything really was going to be fine.

The watchers couldn't believe it. Of all the ways to make an entrance, this one took the cake. The snow picked up for a blizzarding moment and then, just like that. It was gone. Flakes fell slightly from wherever they were summoned from, but the fact that they were no longer blizzarding and the wind had died down meant that there was a lessening of the intensity.

Slowly yet surely, a lone figure was visible. It was walking through the snowy mist that was falling away from the Demolition Boys. Their blades lay useless and discarded on the ground – defeated in all the chaos. The figure moved passed them without even a glance in their direction.

It moved passed Mikhail who was smirking slightly at it. It moved passed the rows upon rows of children that were staring at him in dumb shock. None of them could speak, and their muteness gave way to the echoing sounds of it's shoes as the figure moved in front of them all.

Five feet seven inches tall, tanned from days in the sun, and looking remarkably well considering he'd disappeared for so long, this figure stood before Boris Balkov. Red hair was put up in the traditional hairstyle that he wore during tournaments. His clothes were that of his uniform he used to wear during his time there.

He stood with a straight back and unflinching eyes. He looked no where except for his prize. On his shoulder was a simple pack that looked suspiciously like the bag that Anna had had with her when she'd broken into the Abbey. He was taller then he had been in the past, and where his clothes had gotten smaller, he'd put on a long sleeved shirt and pants beneath his uniform.

His gaze was expressionless and cold. He looked more like a murderer then he did a teenager. Those eyes...those eyes were eyes that promised death. He was a killer in that moment. Someone who could take life and someone who had no regard for his own. Only he could have walked through that door the way he had. Only he was brave enough to stand before Boris calmly and steadily and say nothing to him except for looking at him for several long and quiet minutes.

Then, slowly yet surely, he lowered. One knee bending as he rested it on the ground. The pack slid from his shoulder and his hand formed a fist where it touched the ground. His other hand was on his raised knee in the perfect bowing kneel that he had been trained to do. He ducked his head to show his respect and he stayed like that.

No one said a word.

"What on Earth....are _you _doing here?" Boris hissed lowly as he looked at the boy. Taking that as permission, the boy looked up.

"The traitor Anna Jones has been erased, sir. Her files and research are in my bag. I come bearing information that the ISA has been collecting on you and yours for the past six years, along with photographic proof of several of the deeds I've done. I've come to tell you that you won't need to wait seven months. I'm here, and I'm going to master that system so that we can lead the world down the path that you have paved."

And with those few words...

Tala Ivanov was back.

**Windstar: **By popular demand I will be posting Bi-weekly: Mondays and Thursdays from now on. I will not be finished updating (obviously) by next week, and so I'm going to just keep it up like this. It'll give me time to add some more meat onto the Pulse (coming out next Monday) and the sequel which in all honesty I'm having a hard time writing. It's a complicated story that I'm trying to write up a lot of perspectives on. I'm not entirely certain on how to start it, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be shorter then this one by far. Still though, we'll see when we get there, and because I'm not as enthused about the sequel I will NOT be posting it until it's completed. Mainly due to the fact that if I lose interest half way through it'll end up like my poor Digimon fanfic which has been sitting there uncompleted after fifteen chapters with reviewers EMAILING me to tell me to finish it.

So don't hold your breath on that, though the Pulse will be finished and posted soon enough.

See you all on Thursday! Ta-ta!


	23. One Step Forwards Two Steps Back

**Windstar: **Thank you to the wonderful reviewers once again. There was some confusion with my review page (I don't know if anyone noticed) but for a while the review count kept going up but the actual reviews were MIA. It took me a few days but with the help of the amazing support team at the site my reviews were located and put back were they belonged. If you posted something but your review hasn't appeared, I'm very sorry about that - I think it's back in working order now if you want to try it again.

Onto the next order of business, this chapter is on the longer side, 15 pages, and it's the kick off to the next arc. The next chapter will be posted on Monday and it will start off the American Tournament for our viewing pleasure. Again, there are going to be scenes taken directly from the show from this point onwards, as the new disclaimer has announced. I'm hoping that you all are ready for this. This story has about nine more chapters left and that's that...That means in four weeks or so this story will be complete.

The Pulse will be posted on Monday as well, I'm almost done with it, probably two or three more chapters to go - it's not very long. Right now it's at thirty seven pages and it'll probably max out around a hundred or so. The posting of chapters of the Pulse will depend on the chapters that are posted in this. I can't say things in it that haven't been revealed in this - it'll spoil my secret fun! It's shaping up nicely.

The Sequel is now in it's third chapter or so and it's called "Lies and Deceit." I'd like some feedback from the fans here : While beyblading is apart of the sequel it's not all that prominent and it doesn't really appear as it is set in a time where they're older then tournament ages. Would you still like me to write some scenes where the people blade? If so I can fit some in. Of course there are allusions to the sport and are mentions to it throughout the text but I haven't really writen any full out scenes like I have in this one. Tell me and I'll figure it out from there

On a separate note: This chapter is key when it comes to the sequel, I'm sure most people will have seen the trend by now and they'll be sure to expect more in the future. This is the only hint you get as to what the sequel may or may not be about, and trust me when I say it's a doozy.

Kiril's a huge part of the sequel, I'm not sure if he can be considered a narrator, but he's most certainly as important of a character as the boys. So pay attention, and I hope you don't hate him because he's here for keeps. Thanks once again to the reviewers and I look forward to your comments!

**Official Disclaimer: **Beyblade does not belong to me, while many scenes are quoted and cited, this is not a work that is receiving profit in anyway. All quotes belong specifically to the anime and are all the creation of _those _writers. I did not write them and claim no ownership over the quotes that may or may not appear in this work. The only thing that I lay claim to is that of the characters not belonging to the original creaters of Beyblade and all those responsible for the production of that work.

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

Bryan caught Tala's arm as he was walking by, the whole Abbey had been dismissed and the red head had been instructed to follow Boris immediately. Bryan though, he needed to know what the hell was going on. He was pale with shock and he looked like he was about to pass out from the sight of seeing his friend there. Tala didn't even give him the time of day though. He pulled his arm free from Bryan's grasp and followed the Director without another word.

The rest of the Demolition Boys were left to stare after Tala's retreating back. All of them could barely move from where they'd been standing. Some of the younger kids had scooped up their blades nad returned them to them. Yet that hardly seemed to matter at the moment. At that particular moment, they were in to much of a state of shock to be able to move, let alone recognize their blades in their hands.

Mikhail was smirking though as he took Kiril by the hand and started to lead the boy back down to his cell. The child was looking at the bladers curiously, trying to figure out what was going on. He looked up at his current guardian and asked him, since he seemed to know what was happening.

"He's...someone you might like to meet one day." The man replied simply enough.

"Who is he? He's so cool!" The boy giggled excitedly.

"You were scared of him." He reminded as he looked at the child.

"Nuh-uh! He's so saw-some!"

"Awesome." Mikhail answered simply. "His name is...well...he has a lot of names..." A frown settled on his face as he paused for a moment. He closed his eyes as though just realizing now that Marina would want to know that Tala was back. She deserved it...but she'd want to see her son soon...she'd want to meet him.

Mikhail glanced over towards the Demolition Boys who were slowly getting their wits about them. He motioned Bryan over, and the Falcon moved towards him quickly enough. His eyes were steady and yet stern. He looked like he was ready for whatever it was Mikhail was going to tell him, which is good...it means he'd already guessed.

"Get Tala...we'll meet on the roof later and figure this out." He said simply enough before guiding Kiril back where they came from. Bryan nodded quietly before motioning to the others. They all were still trying to wrap their minds around what they'd just seen.

The watchers were in a state of awe. They were looking after where Tala had disappeared from even as his friends did the same. They had never expected the boy to return in such a...flashy fashion. Especially after news of Korg's death. They could hardly believe it at all. They all to easily could remember the dark and frightening aura that the red head put off.

He practically glowed with power and energy, and in all honesty, there was nothing that made it seem like he hadn't defeated the BD server. The power that that child was kicking off was large enough for him to do anything. He had destroyed a door, broken into the Abbey, and in front of the entire school he'd commanded the room. All the guards were motionless, the Demolition Boys hadn't stood a chance, and he was clearly in charge of everything. Even Boris seemed to do whatever it was the boy had said.

Within moments of his arrival everyone was dismissed. He'd never been like that before. Tala had always been kind and accepting. He was a genuine leader, but he was not the kind of person to lead by fear. He definitely had that aspect down though. All five hundred kids and guards had stared at him dumbly, completely unable to move.

What made things even more terrifying was the fact that no one had even seen his beyblade. They saw Falborg, Seaborg, and Wyborg on the ground, but they hadn't once seen the white blade that Wolborg resided in. They only heard the haunting howl and saw the snow and wind that raced passed them seemingly by will alone.

Then again, this was the same person who seven months later would encase the entire battlefield in ice just because he could. He was a master of his element. He was so powerful and so strong with it that it was clear that he severely outclassed Tyson. Tyson had never mastered Dragoon's abilities. He could bend Seiryuu to his will, but he wasn't able to conjure the dragon's abilities simply by will alone without summoning the bitbeast itself. In that aspect, Tala was above and beyond him.

Ever since they were children the Demolition Boys (Kai included) had been using the powers of their bitbeasts at will. They laughed about it, and they most likely didn't understand exactly what it was that they were doing, but the fire that would randomly burn Tala for all those chicken comments along with the random bursts of wind and the like could only have happened through their conscious approval. Bitbeasts didn't act like that by themselves, they needed the approval of their wielders, and that was exactly what they got.

It seemed though, that gone were the days of the happy-go-lucky and proud Captain of the Demolition Boys. All that was left was this _very _threatening version of their friend. He looked so different from what they remembered. He looked so much older and at the same time, he looked so much wiser. He had seen things that they didn't even want to think about, and they were intimidated by it.

Hours passed and Bryan waited patiently outside Boris' office. He stood there at attention, his mind clearly on the memory of seeing his friend for the first time in seven months. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. At that exact moment the door opened and Tala stepped out, once more that commanding aura coming over him.

Not too far away Spencer and Ian were leaning against the wall as they watched their captain quietly. He door closed shut, and Tala raised a single red eyebrow at his friend. Then in a steely calm voice he looked straight at him and said simply:

"I have orders to replace you as team Captain." Bryan smirked and shook his head.

"You don't need orders. You've always been our Captain. Welcome home." He held out a hand, and Tala took it, light flickering in his eyes even though his face remained completely neutral. "We need to talk." Bryan's voice was deadly calm and quiet and the light vanished as quickly as it came. Tala nodded curtly and motioned for him to lead the way.

They walked up to the roof through the series of memorized halls and passageways. When they got there though, they looked up to see Mikhail standing there, Kiril at his side. The bronze haired boy looked up, his mouth dropping in awe as he pointed to Tala.

"Dats dat guy!" He said excitedly.

Tala's eyes went to the boy first. He had already looked Mikhail over earlier. He glanced over to Bryan in confusion trying to understand just what was going on. Surprisingly it was the brunette who moved forward, picking up Kiril and carrying him towards the red head who suddenly had the child pushed into his arms.

"This is Boris' son. Your brother." They gave him credit because he didn't drop the boy in his shock. He simply stared open mouthed at them, looking at each of them as though they were playing some kind of trick on him. He blinked a few times as though trying to clear his head, and then he looked at the boy in his arms who was looking at him.

What to say? Neither of the blood brothers knew what they were supposed to say to each other, so they just stared. They looked at each other for a long while, and they just stared. The others looked like they were waiting for them to open their mouths, but the two didn't look like they were ever going to speak. They just stared.

"Well I'm so glad I risked my life to let you meet him. Really this meeting as been so enlightening." Mikhail muttered sarcastically. The two looked at him for a moment before looking back at each other.

"Um..." For the first time, Tala seemed to be completely at a loss as to what it was he was supposed to say. He looked at the boy who suddenly smiled and put his hands around the red head's neck, hugging him. Confused and wary, the boy just nodded slightly and held him like that. He closed his eyes for a moment and just held the little boy all thoughts of everything seemingly to vanish from his mind. He looked like he was at peace.

"There's something else...Luka..." Bryan murmured softly, his eyes going to the camera that was watching them. He shifted awkwardly, knowing that they didn't have much more time to do this.

"Hm?"

"Kiril-"

"Is that his name?" It was the first real thing he had said to him that wasn't a grunt or in the form of a command, and Bryan smiled despite the situation.

"Yeah, it is."

"It means 'the Lord.'" Spencer mumbled thoughtfully from the back. Tala nodded to both of them, murmuring the name softly. The child hugged him closer.

"Kiril's mother..." Everyone noticed how the redhead had stiffened at that. He opened his eyes and looked at Bryan. Suddenly that dark look was back. He was commanding without speaking and the air master nodded slightly. "His mother is yours too...she's here. In the Abbey. Boris didn't kill her that time."

They were expecting awe and shock. They were expecting tears and emotions. They were expecting anything and everything. They were not expecting Tala to simply nod slightly and look back at the boy in his arms as though nothing was wrong.

"I know."

"What the hell do you mean you know?" Mikhail hissed as he glared at him.

"I met her once, when I was younger. I didn't know who she was though, not at the time. I recognized her as someone I had always drawn, but I didn't think it was really her. I just thought it was another nightmare or something."

"You thought your mother was a nightmare?" Bryan hooted slightly, but nobody found it funny and the smile fell from his face.

"I was really young...and half asleep at the time, but she must have found me at some point and was trying to kidnap me out of the Abbey. She drugged me with something. Boris found her not to long afterward though and when I woke up the next day I was back in my bed. I thought it was a nightmare." Tala's voice was steady and calm. "Guess not." He shrugged slightly. "She's here somewhere isn't she?"

His voice was light, not nearly as dark and as dangerous as it had been before. It was now lofty and thoughtful. He was thinking about her and he was thinking about the child in his arms. Bryan coughed slightly and he looked over to him.

"Did you really...kill Anna?" He asked softly, Tala's eyes turned sharp once more. He put his brother on the ground before walking towards his friend and punching him hard in the stomach. The other gasped loudly, and the watchers' eyes widened with shock

"Don't make me think of killing people when I'm holding my brother." He hissed lowly. The four year old reached out and touched Tala's shirt, the red head glanced down and made an attempt at smiling at the boy though it didn't come out quite right. He looked anything but happy. Glancing at Mikhail he stared at him for a long while before the guard sighed and nodded.

"Come on, I'll show you the way."

It was almost like watching someone walking around in their best friend's body. The person that was standing before them was not Tala Ivanov. He was not their friend Luka, and he most certainly wasn't the brother that they'd grown up with. Spencer placed a hand on Bryan's shoulder to steady him as the teen held an arm over his stomach. He looked like he was in an incredible about of pain.

He was gasping for breath, and his eyes were narrowed into slits. He watched angrily as Tala moved next to Mikhail, one hand holding onto Kiril's. The little boy was in such awe of the red head that they still hadn't said a word to each other. They always directed their questions to someone else. Tala though...Tala wasn't the person that they remembered from seven months ago. He was completely changed. He was someone inhabiting their friend's body.

"Fucking possessed." Bryan muttered as he wrenched out of Spencer's grasp and stalked off, pissed off and hurting. The blonde let him go, sighing heavily He looked outside. His eyes watching the glittering lights of Moskva. Down below he saw a flash of something yellow and when he looked he frowned as he saw the pedestrians walking and going about their daily lives. One caught his eyes but he ignored it. He didn't know anyone blonde on the outside of those walls. Shaking his head he walked away and descended into the Abbey, Ian at his heels.

The dungeon was as dark and dank as always. Mikhail led Tala down the halls slowly yet surely and he moved sigh a quality that exuded arrogance and his stature. Still, compared to the boy that drew all attention to him without seemingly noticing it, he was nothing. They were nearing the cell in which Marina was resting, and it would be the first time in years that they came face to face with each other.

Mikhail glanced at Tala, finally understanding the reason why Boris kept this woman down here. It was because he'd had her somewhere else and somehow she'd found her child and she'd tried to run away with him. Boris must have made her think that he was dead, that she had killed him with her drugs or something, because she'd honestly been shocked at the news that her son was really alive.

Tala closed his eyes for a brief moment before he stepped in front of the cell. Collecting his thoughts or just preparing himself, he took a deep breath. Mikhail rolled his eyes and shook his head before slowly yet surely moving towards the cell and murmuring for Marina to wake up. She blinked twice and then groggily looked up.

"Mikhail? Oh...you've brought Kiril back...who...who's your friend?" She blinked slowly and rubbed her eyes. Tala was purposefully standing in the shadows as he looked at this woman for a long while. He took her in and he swallowed his appearance. Taking a few steps into the light, he watched as her blue eyes met his and they widened with shock. "No...Y-Yuri?" Kiril looked up at him, and he let his hand run though the toddler's hair.

"Is that my name?" He asked softly as he moved closer to her. Mikhail dutifully looked away. The woman nodded and she was moving towards them faster then they could ever imagine. Her pregnancy clearly showing now. Tala's eyes looked at it for a moment before once more closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Hello....mother."

"You're alive...they said they didn't know..." She was deathly pale her eyes wide with almost panic.

"I didn't tell anyone where I was going." He told her simply enough.

"Why? Why did you come back?" She reached through the bars but he wouldn't let her touch him. He was just out of her reach and he didn't move any closer towards her. Tears were forming in her eyes...eyes that were almost accusing him of something.

"I came back...because at least this world makes sense to me."

"What?"

"Out there...there's no law. There's no reason. People are there and they fight and kill each other because of petty things. They don't understand what life is or how valuable life is. I came back...because I'm going to make them all see just what true pain is, and then and only then will they realize that causing pain isn't worth it. There will be no needless suffering or death...there will be nothing." His eyes never left her face. He never once dared to look away. He kept a level gaze on her and he didn't try to hide.

Mikhail was staring at him wordlessly, he seemed neither disapproving nor approving. He simply looked. His eyes stared at the young teen that had been adopted by his mother all those years ago. He stared at him, and he sighed...because he knew exactly what was happening, and he knew exactly what he was going to loose because of it.

"You can't be serious..." She stuttered in shock.

"I killed the woman I loved because of it. I murdered her father because of it. I stole all their data and all of their information and I brought it back to Boris. I have all of the ISA's information and I know where everything that they've done in this Abbey is. Boris has it all now, and in seven months this world is going to experience a revolution like none other."

"Yuri-"

"My name is Tala. Tala Valkov." Mikhail frowned. Not Ivanov. Valkov. _Bors Valkov AKA Boris Balkov. _He sighed. Tala really knew how to push buttons.

"No....no you're not. You're not-" She was near panic now, her blue eyes staring at his face. It looked like she ws going to hyperventilate.

"Good bye mother. It's been nice seeing you again...I look forward to a world that Kiril and my future sibling can live in away from all of this, a world you will love." He stepped back and started to walk down the hall before he stopped for a brief moment. He looked back at her and with a calm tone of voice he looked at the woman who was now crying pitifully at her son's words. "Luna is my bitbeast...but I would bet you already knew that."

"Yuri! Yuri!" She was screaming his name, but he was ignoring her. He walked out of the dungeon, leaving his little brother, his mother, and Mikhail behind. She turned an accusing glare on Mikhail. "What happened to him?! What happened to him?! You said he wasn't like that! You said-! You-"

"He wasn't." Mikhail said simply. "Tala simply chose the right path on how to handle everything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about what he said. You shouldn't hate him. He's made his desisions, and he'll stick by them, because that's the kind of idiot he is. Don't worry about him. He'll be alright. Just concentrate on you and Kiril...he won't let anything happen to you or him, and neither will I." And on her face, for some reason, a great smile grew.

The screen faded and when it came back, Tala was leaning back in the familiar chair of the BD Server. He had the headset in his hands and Boris was looking at him calmly. The redhead slipped it on his head and he leaned back. Boris nodded and motioned towards the technician who started up the system and then the man looked towards the screen.

A door appeared in front of him and he walked through it easily enough. Boris smirked at the development. The boy was actually mastering the server, and he couldn't be happier. Now there really was no need to have Kai. None at all. He smiled broadly at the sight of the various skills and tasks that the boy was going through.

The watchers couldn't believe it. Tala was actually betraying the ISA for Boris...he'd actually killed Korg! This movie wasn't making them feel any better at all about Tala. It wasn't making them feel any better at all. Tala suddenly had pulled a one eighty on all of them.

Boris motioned for someone to turn off the server and slowly yet surely Tala pulled the headset off. He looked at his father for a brief moment, before promptly passing out without another sound. Boris raised an irritated eyebrow and motioned for him to be taken away.

There were still some flaws to everything, however there was a vast improvement from the last time Tala had used the program. Perhaps the seven months vacation had been good for him. One of the technicians moved towards him and frowned slightly.

"Sir, are you sure we can trust him? He's been...contaminated by the outside for quite some time." The Director looked at the man and nodded curtly.

"This boy has proven himself to be someone I can trust implicitly. He's...given me some proof on his accomplishments. Prepare him, tomorrow he has a _very _important meeting with Voltaire."

From the looks of things though, when Tala met up with his team the next day, they were still mad at him. The red head didn't appear to care much in the slightest though. He shrugged simply and looked away without a second thought. He climbed into the back seat of the car and when they arrived at Voltaire's mansion, they stepped outside and walked up to the door.

Bryan was all but getting ready to murder Tala he was so irritated with the other. The car drove off, and as they waited, the teen's shoulders shook ever so slightly. For a moment they thought he might have been crying, but when the door was thrown open and a very _blonde _and a very _alive _Anna was standing there, they realized that the teen had just pulled another one of his feats of wonder. He was laughing at them!

"Well, hey boys, missed me?" She asked sweetly.

"Dama!" Bryan threw his arms around her, hugging her for all she was worth and spinning her around. She laughed merrily and gave him a friendly hug back.

Ian and Spencer quickly rushed her, refusing to be left out as they looked her over. She looked rather silly with blonde hair, but she did look completely different then she had all those months ago. At a fleeting glance, Boris wouldn't be able to recognize her, and that was clearly the plan too. She hugged and gave a kiss on the cheek to each and every one of them.

"Now, now, I thought you said those were only for me." Tala teased softly as he reached out and pulled her towards him. She fell lightly into his arms and he held her possessively close. The others couldn't help but stare. Gone was the aura that made them all feel like he was going to kill them at any moments. Gone was the cruel look that forced them all to obey him.

He was smiling lightly, his eyes shimmering with that genuine happiness and care-free spirit he'd had before. Bryan growled at him, still pissed off that he'd been tricked, and punched, for this. Tala just met his eyes and murmured:

"Siamo spiacenti, Bryan, Spencer, Ian, non ho potuto dire la verità." Bryan sighed heavily at the words. _I'm sorry Bryan, Spencer, Ian, I couldn't tell you the truth. _He nodded slightly, understanding, but still mad about it.

"Perché non ci dicono ora?" _Why don't you tell us now? _He replied back in Italian.

"No, non adesso. Abbiamo bisogno di aspettare per tutti." _No, not now, we need to wait for everyone. _Strangely, that one was Anna. All eyes had gone to her and she blushed slightly. "I knew it long before I met you guys...I'm Italian remember? My parents taught me."

"Ah." Spencer nodded simply enough.

"We were living there for a while too." Tala added softly.

"You guys made it all the way to Italy?" Ian asked in an awed tone.

"Yeah, we have a really nice little house in Livorno. We're forwarding all of our money for a nice man that we met, Signore Damion Fratello, to look after it while we're here. When the tournament's over, we want to head back there...have you guys try some _real _pizza." Anna smiled lightly, and they laughed, nodding their heads.

"Sounds great. So who are we waiting for?" The door swung open just then, and once more the Demolition Boys looked completely stunned when they saw who was standing there. Kai Hiwatari, in the flesh. His hair cut and everything!

"Me for one."

"I still can't believe you actually remembered that stupid bet. God damn you." Tala muttered as he slipped his hand into Anna's pocket and pulled out some money before tossing it towards his brother who took it with a grin. Anna scowled and glared at him, but he just shrugged and told her he'd pay her back when he actually had money to give.

"I never forget my bets. How are you all doing then hmm?" Kai dropped his bag on the ground and stepped inside, getting a hug or handshake from all of them. When he got to Anna though he gave her a particularly long hug, holding her close for a few extra minutes. He may have whispered something to her because she nodded slightly and then pulled back. "You alright Anya?" He asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. She nodded and looked away.

"I take it the news of Korg's death wasn't a lie then." Spencer said softly as he looked at the girl. She nodded once before closing her eyes. "It wasn't Tala though?"

"No, I was still in Italy when it happened." Luka replied softly. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't exactly been the most help with everything. I put a lot a stress on both of them for the past seven months...but when he died and I knew we weren't going to make it back in time...I couldn't make an excuse. We needed to come back, and I needed to grow up. So here we are."

"We've got a lot to talk about, Michaels is on his way here to talk to us." Kai said softly. "For now, we're going to have all of our meetings here, we can't risk anyone seeing the transfer over to the headquarters."

"And why's that? It's never been a problem before..." Bryan muttered as he looked to Tala who shifted awkwardly.

"I told Boris that I signed up with the ISA." He replied after a hesitation.

"You did _what_?!" It looked like he was going to punch Tala, but Anna stepped in front of him and the lilac haired blader came to a halting stop. Her unflinching gaze stared straight through him with dead certainty in her eyes.

"Listen to him." She said, and Bryan looked up and glowered at the red head. The others didn't look to pleased with him either.

"When I came back, I really did give Boris all of the information we've collected on him so far. I gave him everything that we had, and I told him everything that _I _had knowledge of. I didn't give away you all for obvious reasons, or Mikhail either."

"How'd you know about Mikhail?" Bryan growled, his voice low with mistrust.

"I told him." Kai answered simply enough. "I've been in contact with them since before Christmas of last year."

"_What_?! Why the hell didn't you tell us?!"

"I didn't tell you guys because it would have made no difference. You couldn't have gone to Italy to see them and for all intents and purposes we needed you to believe that they were both gone for good. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't know that they were coming back to Russia until a few days ago."

"It doesn't." Spencer murmured. "Go on." Tala nodded.

"The information that I gave him wasn't anything that he didn't know already, but I did give him the data from the BDS2- the server we created and worked on to imitate the BD Server."

"Why the hell would you do that?" Bryan was practically screaming now.

"Because, I also told him that when Korg was killed the database for the server was lost. He doesn't know that it's perfectly safe and sound and sitting in a secure location waiting to be used."

"You finished it then? The BDS2?" Spencer cut in before Bryan could get another word in edge wise.

"Yes, and I've mastered the system too. Anna's the only one alive now who can run it while I'm inside, but I can do it. I've tried out my luck on a few things and it works out well. The simulation Black Dranzer isn't as powerful as the original, but it's enough to run on the same pathways. Kai played with it over Christmas."

"You went to Italy for Christmas?" Ian asked, sounding completely betrayed. They all did. Kai had ditched them and they'd all been under the impression it was because he had complications with a meeting of some sort with a corporate head.

"Yes, Only for the night though. I didn't lie when I said I really couldn't come up. I spent about twelve hours there and then I flew to deal with a business matter almost immediately. I would have visited if I could have...but I really wasn't supposed to have gone in the first place. Grandfather was a little mad at me."

"And in this twelve hour time frame you worked on the system?"

"For a little while, not all that long though. Just long enough to get a feel for it." Kai replied softly.

Tala sighed for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. He honestly looked upset with how this conversation was going. Not surprised at all though. He seemed to know that this was going to happen, but he didn't like it at all. He didn't like the fact that his friends were so quick to be hurt and so quick to be pained by what had happened and how it had happened. He didn't look like he wanted that, but at the same time, he had willingly took those steps to do so.

"Look...those first few months...I was a mess. I didn't talk to anyone, I didn't move, I just kind of moved around and that was that. Anna actually had to feed me sometimes." He looked away, and the shame was clearly written on his face. He was a proud man. Never a boy because he'd forsaken his youth. No...he was an extremely proud man. To say such things was taking a lot out of him, but he said them anyway. "Anna built the system mostly by herself during that time, and she was conversing with Korg the whole while. It was a few weeks before Christmas when I started to actually do things normally, and when Kai showed up he basically spent the entire time kicking my ass. Kai was the test pilot for the server. I didn't have anything to do with that."

"Then that email-" Bryan spoke up trying to understand what was going on.

"Anna sent it on behalf of both of us." The redhead admitted quietly. "After that I started to get more involved. We got a job so we weren't depending on our money deposits that Kai was wiring through our bank accounts, and during the evenings when we weren't working in the theater, I worked with Anna on the server. It took us seven months to get things the way they are now...seven long and tiresome months. We finished the BDS2, made all the adjustments and Korg was going to go out to meet Christopher with the information...someone got to Korg first."

"How do we know it wasn't Boris?"

"It wasn't." All eyes turned to Michaels who was standing in the doorway, eavesdropping if nothing else. Michaels sighed heavily. "Boone called me last night. The Ottilia's had tracked down Anna in Italy...and from there they found Korg. They killed him as a warning. They didn't realize what they were working on or what their files held, and those people don't get involved with Russians unless they have too. Korg was an accident...one that gave Tala the excuse he needed to get back into the Abbey."

"We didn't even call to tell you what was going on." Tala whispered softly, looking away.

"You didn't have too. The shooter that killed Korg is dead. Boone's men were the ones who found him. That's why he gave the call. Now. I want to know what the fuck you thought you were doing going after them, and why the hell you didn't contact us first?"

Silence filled the room. Kai looked towards the man slowly yet surely, his eyes staring at him for a long while. Tala wasn't meeting anyone's gaze, the floor seemed to captivate his attention, and in his hand, he held Anna's slim fingers. She was biting her lip as though in deep contemplation.

"I told them not to." Kai spoke up at long last. "They listened to me. I flew in last night and met Luka at the airport. The two of us took him out together. Anna wasn't involved, and the police weren't going to be able to do it."

"Damn it Kai, this is turning into a blood war between you two. They have you once for making a mark on Antonio, and now you go after their hired man-"

"They killed Korg!" The brothers yelled at the same time. Anna winced and looked away from it all. Spencer stepped forwards and put an arm around her shoulders. He slowly started to lead her away, she didn't need to be a part of this argument. She already had enough to worry about.

"I understand that! But damn it, that wasn't your job to pull. We're the ISA, not assassins. We don't go around taking people out because we feel like it!"

"There's a $25,000 reward in New York for people just reporting a cop shot, and you think that we shouldn't be allowed to seek revenge on people who took out a government agent!?" Kai scoffed, his face livid.

"How did you even find out? I'm assuming that Tala called you? You two aren't gang members, you don't pull hits unless-"

"Unless what? The government orders us too? What happened to no assassinations Michaels?" Tala hissed furiously. "You have no idea what it's like to walk into that place and tell someone that you killed a man and his daughter that you've spent years loving and being close to. You have no idea what it felt like to be congratulated because I told my _father _that I murdered that girl back there! Anna's in disguise, her father's dead and we're no closer to bringing them down then we were last year! When the hell is this going to stop!?"

"The Ottilias are going to be gunning for you, you stupid idiot! There's a reason why we don't go around taking people out just because they piss us off!" Michaels grabbed the front of Tala's shirt and pulled him towards him, but he didn't have a chance to do anything else because Bryan and Kai both twisted his arm away and shoved him back away from him.

"It's fine, we can take care of ourselves." Kai hissed dangerously.

"What about that girl back there huh!? What about Anna? Did you even think about that? While you were off having your free for all killing spree-"

"We only killed one person, and he was the one who jumped off the building. We had nothing to do with that. It was practically suicide."

"He's a mafioso you dumb fuck. He's not going to just sit there and let you take him in! He knew what would happen if he was caught. Of course he killed himself, but that death is on your hands and so is that girl's fate. She's caught up in this shit and now you have to deal with it. You killed that man for her, but you were the wrong people to do it. Especially you Kai. They know the three of you are related to each other, and they're going to connect the dots eventually that you are conspiring against them. That whole family is going to make you their targets, and while you can take care of yourselves, you will not be taking care of _her _that easily."

Silence filled the room. The four teenagers before him were deathly still. They looked at him with cold eyes and with stiff bodies, yet the threat was clear. They knew what he was talking about, and they knew, that he was right. As much as they'd like to say that everything was going to be alright, they were all completely fucked.

The three Demolition Boys who had not gotten involved still had an easy out, but sooner or later they were going to be associated with the three other members of their group. Someone was going to mention seeing them all together, and when that time came, it was going to be open season.

Anna and Spencer were in the kitchen, they could hear the sounds of china clinking together. They could imagine the kind words that the natural blonde was telling the girl. She was probably crying. She looked so close to the edge earlier when Kai had asked her if she was alright. They wondered if she knew just what the two brothers had done. They wondered if she knew that that blonde hair was going to be protecting her from a lot more then just Boris.

The watchers felt their blood run cold. Michaels death flashing through their minds. It wasn't much...but it was enough to make them start to wonder just how right the man had been, when he'd said that nothing was going to stop that family from taking revenge on them. Even if the death should have been expected, it shouldn't have been carried out the way it had been. It was a blood war now, and things were going to get very messy, very quickly.

"So what do we do?" Ian murmured softly. The others glanced at him, and he shifted awkwardly. "Right now...what should we do?"

"As of right now, we do the only thing we can do. We keep Anna safe, and we finish this mission with Boris. Seven months from now the World Championships takes place. That's our strike point. Anna can't stay with Voltaire, one slip of the tongue, one bad visit and it's over for everyone. I'll make a room for her in the ISA and she can stay there."

"No she can't. Now that Boris knows I'm in the ISA, he'll have the access codes for every security camera and every link up in a matter of minutes." Tala was shaking his head, he sighed heavily. Not liking any of this.

"Then Anna goes to America and she stays with Boone's men. They may be assholes the lot of them, but they're good people and they'll watch out for her."

"That bastard tried to kill us." Kai whispered softly. "I have a better plan."

"Oh yeah? Like how your last plan went? Because that one didn't go so well."

"No. Anna should come with me back to Japan." There was silence for a moment. "She can run intelligence a lot faster then I can about the situation with the Blade Breakers-"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. That's their dip-shit name?" Bryan muttered, and he was dutifully ignored.

"Tala has the LXCom database so he can send her information from his end and keep me updated on the things happening in Russia, and I can keep an eye on her in the crowd while we do our thing. She can even send live feed over to you all so you know what's happening on my end without my mission reports having to be covertly sent with my busy body team around."

"You just don't want to right up the reports."

"Shut up Bry." Tala ordered.

"Shutting up."

"The plan has merit, and it'll be safer then having her in Russia the whole time or in Boone's custody. We could probably arrange it for Mr. Dickenson to give her a job or something as an excuse to have her around." Michaels agreed as he crossed his arms, but the boys were shaking their heads.

"No, keep her in the back. If she gets a job and Boris runs through it he'll find her on the system and then we'd be doubly fucked." Tala said simply enough.

"One question though...what's this database of yours?" Ian asked as he looked at Tala who smiled slightly.

"Couple years ago I had that brain surgery right?" The little one nodded. "Simply enough, the LXCom is a chip that's lodged into my brain, it can control my actions, put me to sleep, the whole nine yards, but if I'm consciously aware of it, Anna and Korg found out a way they could make it so I can control it. They hooked up a link pad and they made it so that the Com is a constant visual recorder, from there as long as I'm at something that has internet hook up I can send emails and coded messages and the like out."

"Like that email we got that we couldn't figure out where it came from?"

"Yeah, like that one....Anna put it together and just used me as her personal computer to send it out. What can I say, apparently I'm a delivery service now."

"Did you even know what she was doing?" Bryan asked in awe.

"Not at the time. She just told me close my eyes and touch her laptop, at that time I barely knew which way was up and which way was down so I did what she said. The email got sent, and by the way, it feels fucking weird to send an email through your brain – it feels something like a brain tickle...which is fucking weird."

"He's got it to the point that he can actually send and receive phone calls in his head. It's actually pretty cool." Kai said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm a real laugh at parties. Especially when Anna became determined to hack into my brain and figure out how to make me turn off and on like a wind up toy." The red head glared back at the kitchen. Clearly he wasn't amused by that detail.

"Why would Boris put something like that in your head?" Bryan whispered softly.

"My guess is that he didn't realize everything that it could do. It does all those cool things on the side, but in actuality it's main purpose is to be able to be assist in controlling the BDS better. The computer that I hack into attaches itself to the LXCom and from there it's a matter of thinking that makes it work. It's why I didn't really have a problem in the past in controlling the Server either." Tala gave a pointed look at Kai who grinned wickedly. "Of course this ass hat doesn't need the LXCom, he just thinks and it works."

Voltaire walked into the room, Anna and Spencer trailing after him dutifully. The other said their hellos and asked him how he was doing and he waved them off. A few moments later they were in his office, everyone either sitting on the floor/chairs or leaning against the wall.

He was looking at them all sternly and it was clear that he was definitely not pleased with the events that had come to pass. He was looking particularly distasteful at the two brothers that were sitting in front of him appearing properly chastised.

"I'm going to say this once because with your superior intellects you should be able to understand. Then again, with your superior intellects, you never should have done something so completely fool hearty as that stunt you pulled last night." The boys looked down at their hands, shame faced before their elder. "None of you. That means _none _of you, have the permission or acceptance that goes with using your abilities for causes that you haven't been given orders by.

"You are all soldiers in the International Army. You are apart of an International Organization that is trying to keep peace and justice in this world. You all have licenses to kill, we understood that the moment that you were given your badges. You _do not _have a license to seek revenge on people. You kill people on missions when you have too, that is something I wish you didn't have to be apart of. Yet that is the world that you're living in because of the paths that have been skewed before you.

"I'm terribly sorry you all were put through so much hardship and pain in your lives. I know that you most likely hate me as much as you hate Michaels and Boris. We three have done nothing but order you around and tell you to do things our way since the moment you stepped through these doors. We have not held your hands and we have not given you the opportunity to be children. You needed to find time to do that yourselves.

"All of you are victims of this world, and I apologize for that. However. Things are done to keep you safe. Tristen and I cannot protect you for the rest of your lives, but right now we're trying our hardest to make sure you are not needlessly suffering. We're trying the best we can.

"You can not continue with this blood war you are forming with Anna's family. You cannot keep putting distance between yourselves and Boris. You cannot purposefully cause mayhem wherever you go simply because it is in your ability to do so.

"And Kai, you need to suck it up with the Blade Breakers. No more disappearing acts. No more walking off to brood for hours on end. No more snarky comments. You are a soldier, act like one! I don't care if your job is to shovel sewage for the rest of your life, you better do it with a smile – or a grunt – and get on with it. If I hear that you're being purposefully difficult again, then you will be severely punished. They're a group of teenagers, they shouldn't be too hard to deal with. I expect you to put a little more effort in trying here.

"Bryan, Ian, and Spencer: I regret that everything this past half year or so has been placed on your shoulders, I honestly wished it hadn't been that way. You all have done a wonderful job with your research and developments. Mikhail's addition to the group has been an improvement indeed. You are truly proving that you're far more capable at a simple job then these two _numb-skulls _that right now I'm ashamed to call mine own." The boys winced. "Now...in seven months this whole thing will be over. The Blade Breakers managed to get through the Asian tournament-"

"Barely..." Kai muttered under his breath, clearly still agitated about the fact that he had to try to buy some time for the team. He put himself on the line when he took that gamble, and if Tyson hadn't shown up when he had they would have been screwed over big time. He was still miffed that the White Tigers had played so low...

The watchers glared at the team that was sitting right next to them, and they in turn glared at Kevin who'd been responsible for the land slide that had held them all up. Then again...if Tyson hadn't slept in they all would have made it on time. It was all really Tyson's fault...and that was something that Kai had clearly seen through everything. Everything was Tyson's fault.

"Kai. Just leave. I can't even deal with you right now." Voltaire said at long last, pointing towards the door. The teen stood up and nodded curtly.

"Fine, then." And with those parting words, the door closed, and the screen fell dark.


	24. America The Brave, Or Something Like It

**Windstar: **Well, this chapter introduces another new character, sort of, that I have grown a liking too. This character though is one that I was iffy on introducing, mainly because I figured I was doing so well with my OCs why ruin it by doing this? Still, I needed this person in The Pulse and I needed this person in the sequel so you're going to have to get used to them because they're sticking around.

As I promised, the Pulse is out, and may I just make one comment: **Please review each story separately.** Please, The Pulse is a different story then this. Yes it's the same time line, same characters same everything, _no _it is not the same story. It is separate and alone. I do not really want to have all of the Pulse' reviews in the review box for OTT. If you review this, which only eight people really do, then please review that separately instead of saying "oh, i loved that new update, it was great!" Something that unfortunately happened to Operation Desert Storm....o_o;

On that note, this chapter is the start of the American Tournament...and sort of the end as well. I didn't spend much time in America and so things were kind of rushed through that tournament. There will be more scenes from the show in this and once again, please take note of the disclaimer.

Thanks very much, and I look forwards to hearing your opinions on my new OC.

**Official Disclaimer: **Beyblade does not belong to me, while many scenes are quoted and cited, this is not a work that is receiving profit in anyway. All quotes belong specifically to the anime and are all the creation of _those _writers. I did not write them and claim no ownership over the quotes that may or may not appear in this work. The only thing that I lay claim to is that of the characters not belonging to the original creaters of Beyblade and all those responsible for the production of that work.

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

When the screen came back, it wasn't the usual security camera, or even the one time feed of the news report. Instead it seemed like someone was video taping something, the camera being moved every so often and the background noises of something knocking against it rang true.

"You're fucking it up dip-shit." The quiet voice said in the dark. The camera was looking at some sort of computer equipment that were aligned along the far side of a wall. There wasn't anything else. Just that, and the soft voice that was clearly irritated.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." That snarky voice could only have been the Blade Breaker's lovable Captain who seemed to be back to his normal pissed off self. The date set them at the American Tournament, only five months until show time.

"Yeah, like being woken up at four in the morning to do this is making me feel like being pleasant to you." The voice was clearer now, and it was now obviously Anna. She didn't seem to be a morning person to say the least.

"I love you too Dama."

"I'm sure you do." There was a soft click and then the screen stopped being shuffled around.

"It all set up?" Kai asked, his body coming into view. He was standing too close to the camera though, only his trademark clothes could be recognized. He was shoved out of the way and suddenly Anna was there, leaning close to the camera and adjusting it.

"Yeah, we're good. Let's see if I can wake up the sleepy head." Now the girl was sitting back, her hands out stretched and what the camera was finally identified as one that was connected to a laptop. She was focusing in on herself and Kai and was typing away at something on the computer.

"He should be awake already...how long until the right time?"

"In a few minutes, God, go get something to occupy yourself with. I have to hack into his system..."

"You're certainly persnickety today."

"And you're a nuisance as always. Your _team _is getting on my last nerves as well. If I have to listen to another one of Tyson's speeches of 'heart' and 'believing in yourself' I'm going to vomit in my mouth." Kai's abrupt laughter caught everyone off guard.

He disappeared off the screen, but a light to the side showed he hadn't gone far. There were sounds of rummaging and then he was back. He passed a soda to the girl who popped the cap and drank from it greedily. Setting the drink down she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and kept on doing what she was doing. Kai pulled a chair up and sat to her side, watching what she was doing quietly.

"And you all thought I was kidding when I said they were getting on _my_ last nerve." There was a ping and a satisfied smile appeared on the girl's face as Kai leaned closer to the screen.

_We still think you're kidding, we know you really like them. _That sounded oddly like Tala, and Kai raised an eyebrow as he looked at Anna.

"Damn you're getting good at this."

"I know, I know, I'm amazing."

"You gave her an attitude while you were gone little brother." Kai snapped, as he swatted her upside the head. She ducked slightly.

_Don't blame me, I was catatonic remember?_

"Yeah, catatonic my ass. I know you two tried it in the sea-" A faint blush crossed her features and she glared hatefully at him.

"You do realize this is going to be used for your review later don't you?"

_Nah Kai, you're just jealous because you didn't get any. By the way, how's Adeline? _

"None of your damn business."

_You're going to Europe in a few months, gonna swing by, maybe say hello? _

"Anna's right, we have a job to do. Now shut up and focus." Kai was glowering now, his arms crossed over his chest and his voice that same tone he used to command the Blade Breakers in. There was a soft laugh.

_We have to go on some double dates some time. It'll be fun, I bet Adeline's father -_

"There will be no dating, double or otherwise, with Adeline, and enough about her father."

_Don't like talking about your little Princesse?_

"Don't like hearing you saying her name in that disgusting way you're doing. Stop it, we're talking about something other then Adeline."

_So you've agreed no more talk on Anna and my's relationship?_

"Fine, whatever."

_Oh and just so you know, in case you do ever get to the nitty gritty stuff with your Princesse, don't try anything on the beach._

"Why not?" Curiosity got the better of the teen and Anna was all but ordering her boyfriend to shut his trap.

_One word little brother, sand._

Oddly enough though, the Majestics were the ones who stopped the tape. Everyone turned to look at them, and they were all glancing at each other, particularly Oliver as though speaking to each other quickly and without even words.

The others waited for a while, trying to understand what had the boys all worked up. No one seemed willing to ask them or interrupt since they looked very serious about everything. They were taking this very hard it seemed.

Finally though, Tyson couldn't handle it any more. He needed to figure it out. Especially because the three people on the screen were about to start talking about their mission. It was getting exciting now that they could relate times and places to things that they themselves could remember. This had happened during the American Tournament, and they all could remember times and places where their Captain slipped away for some reason or other.

"What _is _it already?" He asked loudly getting in their faces. Grey eyes turned to stare at him as Oliver crossed his arms over his chest.

"Princesse Adeline is the name of one of the current descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte's line...of course that means nothing in today's day and age, since their family is not a ruling one...however they're quite well respected...a lot of people in France believe her to be the true heir to France. The Bonapartists are very much still alive. Her family even created a very successful company and right now they've positioned themselves as the monarchs of all enterprises in France because of their monopoly. She's known to be...quite difficult to get on with. Few truly interact with her." The Frenchman said softly, looking like a star crossed lover.

Tyson snorted, his face completely priceless as he let out a laugh straight from his gut. He practically was cackling he was laughing so much. The others couldn't help it, they were laughing too. The thought that Oliver was saying something like that meant only one thing, and they'd all picked up on it.

"So...she snubbed you?" Tyson clarified as he put his hands over his mouth and laughed _hard_.

"Lady Adeline did not snub me! We had a difference in opinion-"

"She snubbed you! She kicked you to the curb and she threw away the key. She snubbed you, for _Kai_!" Tyson was practically rolling on the floor he was laughing so hard. Kai's embarrassed face that was frozen on the screen was picture perfect proof at its finest. Kai clearly knew the girl, and he clearly knew her rather well if it meant that his brother was poking fun at him about it to get him off their case.

"It would seem like that wouldn't it?" Robert nodded as he cupped his chin in his hand thoughtfully. "Though I can not understand in what circumstances the two of them would have met. There have been no references to her in the past. Certainly not in this film, _we _would have noticed it." The others nodded in agreement as thy sunk down deep in thought.

Then an eerie silence filtered over them for a moment before everyone looked up at the same time. There was only one scene that seemed to have been vitally important to everything that had happened in this movie. One scene that wasn't even there. Perhaps there hadn't been any camera in the location, perhaps there'd been nothing there to record it. Perhaps there were reasons...but there was one scene that was suspiciously absent that filled in a lot of the blanks that had happened in the movie.

Where was the ball? The ball that all those years ago they had gone to. The ball where Anna and Mikhail had first met and become friends. The ball where Boris took notice of Anna for the first time, and she gave herself an reason for being Tala's fan girl...and the only time that seemed reasonable for Kai to have met someone of such importance.

It couldn't have just been a business party. Companies from all over had come and they had taken their children with them. That didn't seem reasonable. It seemed even fool hearty. No...there was something else. So, without thinking twice, Kenny opened up his terrified laptop, promised her that he wasn't doing any hacking, and started to search.

They put in a few search words just to see if their hunch was correct, and they weren't all that surprised when something came up. That ball was certainly no business meeting. The Demolition Boys had been invited because one of France's companies had decided to make a deal with Voltaire and he was willing to help support their _school_. The CEO invited the three teams from the Abbey to his daughter's coming out ceremony, and who would have guessed it, it was Adeline's.

They stared in shock at the picture in the newspaper article that they'd pulled up. Kai was dressed in that familiar looking suit, his hair tied back and looking very proper. He actually looked almost noble, like a true prince charming. One hand placed on her hip, the other in the air, the two looked like they were in the middle of a waltz.

Kai was actually smiling at something she had said, his eyes looking at hers and nowhere elses. She...she was beautiful. She was wearing one of those tremendously beautiful gowns that they had in the olden days. One that must have cost a fortune, but was made for this event. Her hands were clothed in long tight gloves that went up past her elbows. A bracelet accenting one wrist. She was wearing all white, and the strapless gown hugged her figure before it branched off – leaving her hips a mystery to all who looked at her. She was slender and petite, quite a few inches shorter then her partner who didn't seem to mind in the slightest that the young girl was looking up at him. Around her neck was a simple cross, and that one cross was something that Rei made Kenny zoom in on in awe. It was the same cross he'd seen around Kai's neck that day that he'd accidentally walked in on him.

"No way..." The cross seemed proof enough though. No one ever talked about the twos relationship, if there was one, it seemed like something that fell down by the wayside and didn't exist, yet Rei had seen the proof himself. After nearly three years, Kai had kept in touch with the young girl at that ball.

Beneath the caption though, was something even more surprising. All eyes stared at the words that said very clearly in bold: **Kai Hiwatari, heir to Hiwatari Enterprises and Debutante Princess Adeline Napoléon ****dance together at the Princess's coming out ceremony. Kai Hiwatari, the "Prince" of Enterprises is one of many suitors of this Princess's hand. **

No one quite knew what to make of that, but Kenny pulled up another search bar and started to type away. He put in the names again, and then he started looking through some of the more gossiping articles. One particularly flirtatious one was full of "slandering" pictures of the two heirs.

Adeline and Kai sitting at a cafe (body guards in the background). Adeline and Kai in the park. Adeline and Kai standing in the Louvre. Dozens of photos of the two. Everyone shot an accusing eye towards Oliver who gulped nervously. As a Frenchmen, he should have known about these photos and he should have recognized the boy in them. He really had no excuse. Yet he held up his hand for a moment as though he were going to explain. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"If you search the name of any person our age who has money, you'll find similar pictures. Everyone's trying to match her up. Having a Prince Napoléon is very important. As a Princess, people don't count her very much. She's important, and the blood heir, but she's still just that. No one wants a Princess, they want a Prince. It's chauvinistic, but that's the way it is. Kai's the heir to an Empire, do any of you realize just how big Hiwatari Enterprises (HE) is?" The Majestics stayed motionless, but everyone else shook their heads. Emily shrugged though, and it was possible she had a good idea since she worked with the equipment that they made each and every day. "HE is the largest organization in the world. They have farms that produce twenty-five percent of the food in Russia, they publish books through their own publishing firms, they have scores of lawyers, doctors, and professionals of all kinds. Kai right now is sitting on a fortune that's in the billions. This company started generations ago, but it was Voltaire who managed to bring it to the point it was now. He meshed everything under one name, and there are millions of people working for him. That man, is truly one of the most powerful people in the world. That's why his involvement with Boris was such a huge deal. That company is huge. When they say that Kai's the Prince of an Empire, they mean it.

"If he ever went into politics, he'd win without even trying. Most of Russia works for Voltaire in some way shape or form, and HE is one of the most well known groups when it comes to how well they treat their workers. Everything they do is phenomenal. You all may not have ever paid attention to it, but Kai has been around for a while, and many people knew he was the heir to the corporation."

"What about Tala?" Kevin asked as he shifted on the couch he was sitting on. Oliver nodded slightly.

"Well, that's the thing. Voltaire's always admitted that he's had another grandson, but no one ever saw him. No one ever really knew who he was. I'm sure you could look up Aya Hiwatari-Ivanov and find a family photo with her and all of her adopted children in it, but other then that, I doubt there's much proof or information that Tala was a member of his family. It's like the video said earlier, Kai was always groomed to be the heir of Voltaire's business, and Tala never wanted it. It worked out well that way. My guess is, if it had been the other way around, then Kai would have been in the Abbey all these years instead."

"So...you just ignored all these photos because Kai's rich, and you never thought to tell us about them!?" Tyson asked angrily as he looked at the smaller boy. The Frenchman puffed up his chest as he glared at him.

"Just because some gossip mongers digitally slid Kai's photo into place next to the Princess, does not mean anything at all. There's no proof! There was never an interview, there was never a news cast. The two were never proven to really be seen with each other ever again after that ball. There was absolutely nothing to say that the two had any relationship – let alone were still talking to one another. Excuse me if I don't take those magazines so seriously!" Silence filled the room and Kenny groaned as he shook his head.

"Does anyone else, besides me, find it strange that all this stuff is happening? I mean, first we find out that Kai actually is an agent for the International Security Agency and the Beyblade Battle Association's Secret Service, and then we find out that he might actually have had a romantic relationship with the Bonapartist's heir for Napoleon – Princess Adeline? Then we find out that some of us may have already known this but never brought it up? It's like all of this was right in front of us the whole time and we never saw it....I can't believe all of us could have been that ignorant."

"Kai was just really good at lying, that's all." Tyson said simply, running a hand through his hair.

"But he wasn't." Rei sighed heavily. "He never did lie. None of us actually asked him anything about his personal life, and none of us ever really tried to get to know him. We just kind of took it for granted that he was there. Hell, did any of us even know that he was that rich? Or that he was an orphan? We were never friends to him...we were just people who wanted him to bail us out when we got into some trouble."

Kai had always been that person...that person that was just there whenever you needed him, made a big act of seeming pissed off at the suggestion of them needing help, but always did it anyway. Like in the Asian Tournament when Tyson and Rei were late. He could have very well flubbed everything and not went up to buy them some time....granted he could have wasted a bit more then a few minutes. He really hadn't done very well on that part. At least Max had put some effort into wasting time.

But Kai had a point back then too...even if the worst should happen, Beyblading was a sport that you needed to show respect in. Max had known from the beginning that he was better then his opponent, and yet he had danced around him for a while so the others had time to get there. Kai had told him that that wasn't appropriate – and he'd been right.

It was strange, but _Oliver _seemed to know more about Kai then they did. Hell, no one even questioned how Kai knew how to speak and read Russian when his last name was Japanese. No one asked him anything. Awkwardly, they wondered if they could even consider themselves friends. It was clear that they weren't all that good at understanding him. None of them had ever seen that playful and joking side that went along with his arrogant strutting and poses.

Oliver shifted awkwardly at that, and he clicked the play button because he wanted the attention off of him. The Blade Breakers looked miserable at the thought that they really hadn't known anything about their Captain at all. This video wasn't helping them to continue being friends with Kai...it was telling them that they never really were friends in the first place.

_So...how's your team doing in the tournament? _Tala's soft disembodied voice asked as it lifted through the air. Kai shrugged, and leaned back in his chair, his face suddenly looking thoughtful.

"They're winning, which I guess is a good thing."

_You guess? _

"They're going to make it through this tournament, but they're no where near our level. Down-playing is starting to annoy me a little bit...Boris will be able to tell that you all could have beaten them." The words were spoken softly. There was a warning in them. Silence wrapped itself around the three and Anna bit her lip as she nodded slowly.

"The problem with this whole thing is simply this, as much as those boys have improved...they aren't actually able to blade at the level that everyone else is at." She sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"They're going to be destroyed in Russia...even if they defeat the All Starz, they can't hope to beat you four."

_So...we're flubbing? _Tala didn't sound as against it as he had before, almost resigned. He seemed to have accepted whatever consequences there would be to their losses.

"Seems like...damn. Do you think you guys could disappear right after the tournament? Vanish the moment you loose?" The worry was hard to hide, it was clear that Kai was getting worked up about this, and now that the watchers had seen Boris' reactions over the years they knew just what could very well happen to the boys. They'd taken a huge risk...a risk that could have caused Tala his life. His battered body was still resting in the hospital...

_We could try, depends on if Michaels can get the storm troopers to raid the place on time. We shouldn't worry about that just yet though, we have a ways to go. How are things on your end? I take it that you and Anna aren't having the most fun when it comes to dealing with them, hmm?_

"They're annoying and selfish brats that don't do anything and procrastinate constantly. They're complete idiots." Kai's voice was soft and didn't contain any malice, it was almost like he'd programmed himself into saying it like that. Like he'd said it so often that it was on auto pilot, and it wasn't only the watchers who picked up on it.

_In other words, you're genuinely worried about them in regards to Boris' master plan? _

Kai hesitated for a moment. He looked away, his eyes betraying a slight flicker of emotion that it seemed Tala picked up on because there was a sigh on his end. Anna was looking at her hands. She didn't want to get involved apparently.

The watchers could hardly believe what they were seeing though, Kai – who never showed any emotions – actually was talking about his team in a way that showed that he wasn't completely annoyed by them. If anything, he seemed oddly accepting of them. He sighed and looked back at the computer's camera.

"I just don't want those idiots to get themselves killed."

_Which is Kai-speak for you actually liking them?_

Kai didn't say anything, he just kept his arms crossed firmly over his chest and looking in the other direction. Anna couldn't help it, she smiled at him and poked him in the side when he didn't look like he was going to say anything else. The screen faded and the time stamp said that it was the next day, the Blade Breakers were talking to Michael who was making in front of them senselessly.

Kai was off to the side, not really getting involved. Emily moved up to him, her eyes taking him in easily enough. She was scoffing at him and anyone could tell that from her arrogance and her pompous stance. Anyone could tell he was resisting to roll his eyes upon her approach.

"You sure like to keep your distance, so why is that Kai?" She was taking in that snotty voice of hers and in real life, the girl actually blushed when she saw herself. She had been purposefully annoying that day, trying to get him to do something so that she could record the data on her computer.

"That isn't any of your business Emily." Kai seemed more annoyed then usual that day, and it could have been just because of the conversation he'd had the night...er...morning... before. He'd already been accused once of having feelings for his teammates, and he certainly didn't want his _real _team's arch-rivals to be the ones to point it out again.

"I was just making an obvious observation, why are you scared of your teammates?" Her whiny voice grated his patience and he actually had to avoid glaring at her. His body language told them he was tense, and he wasn't appreciating this conversation in the slightest.

"I'm not scared of anything." It was true, considering everything in his life, he had very little to be scared of.

"I think you're afraid that if you get to know them, you might actually start to like them. As a scientist I know things about people that they don't even know about themselves." The eye roll was expected. He actually looked like he wanted to take her 'scientist' title and shove it down her throat. He clearly didn't think highly of her proclamation.

"Whatever."

"Fine then, but you might want to think about it."

_Come on Kai, you know you want to open up to them. _The words came up in subtitles, but the watchers could see his hand twitch towards his ear and the slight tilt of his head. He glanced towards where someone or something was sitting out of view, a frown set on his face.

"Shut it Anya." He murmured in soft Russian, "You're running intel, not my life." There was a pause, and no reply, and Kai looked back towards his team and he sighed heavily. He glanced down at his feet and then started to follow the over zealous team into the building. He looked miserable, and now that they'd started to accustom themselves to how Kai showed his feelings and emotions, the watchers realized just how much they wrote off his silence as him just being a prick. He really wasn't sulking because he was pissed at them or anything, he was sulking because he knew what was coming and he knew just how that was going to affect them.

He knew that someday soon they were going to go out there and they were going to go up against the strongest beyblading team that ever existed and they were going to have to pull off looking like they were going to win. He was worried about them, about them and about his friends back home. He was worried about what was going to happen to them all. He was worried and he wasn't good at expressing that feeling towards others.

The match-up was being declared and he looked up, telling everyone that he was changing the line up. He rarely bladed in their places – he didn't have to. He knew he was better, and they knew it too. Mr. Dickenson seemed to plan to have him not blade all that often to give the others the opportunity to do so.

_Frustrated? _The voice was slightly more audible now, but it sounded like it had been layered on top of the tape. Kai made no motion that he'd heard it, and he couldn't – after all he was surrounded by people who were staring at him and talking to himself would attract to much unwanted attention.

"Hey Kai, what made you decide to get in on all the action?" Tyson looked back towards his captain in confusion, and the present day Tyson was hooting as he pointed to himself. He started to complain that his voice wasn't recorded right, at which point everyone told him to shut the hell up.

"It was Emily." Kai admitted softly. He was looking around the stadium for something or other, and he stopped when he saw something.

"It was?"

"She wants to see what makes me tick, then let her try." A sneer plastered itself on his face and he walked up to the beystadium. He was the embodiment of confidence. He always had been. It was the way he walked, the way he talked, and most certainly the way he held himself. He was blessed with the cool and calculating accuracy of someone who was undeniably cunning and prepared to do whatever it took in order to get what he needed to get done, done. He knew his abilities better then anyone, and he knew that the only person that ever had gone head to head with him, was not Miguel from America.

He stood before the kid and he let Jazzman ring them in, his focus seemingly on the back of his eyelids. He held himself with such poise and grace that it was astounding to think that he was so young. Barely sixteen he was holding himself like an adult and with the simple goal and path to get to that goal already mapped out in his mind.

Jazzman cued them in and the blades went into the dish. Kai lazily watched the dish, and now to their practiced eyes they could tell that what they before had assumed to be calculating thinking was actually not at all directed on the stadium. His eyes were focused not on Miguel's tripped out blade, but on his own. It was almost as if he was waiting for something, or discussing a course of action to Dranzer.

It was unnecessary, Kai could have beaten Miguel in less time it took to launch, but he wasn't aiming to do so. He was proving a point, and whatever that point may be, it had to be done just right. Which is why when Miguel's blade started to garner the attention of everyone around them Kai seemed to actually be counting down seconds. He was purposefully wasting time, just like he'd chided Max for doing!

The blade's strings around it kept attacks at bay, and they also were perfect receptors of sound waves, which is what the boy had been going for. He was so confident that he could beat the fire-child that he didn't even notice how severely outclassed they were. Kai was wasting time and he wasn't even attempting to hide the fact either.

"Hey Kai, you must feel pretty silly for replacing Rei to fall under the spell of my melody, so are you ready to face the music?" Miguel laughed, but then hesitated when he caught sight of Kai's face. "Hey, why are you smiling?" Sure enough the mask had slipped as Kai had finally shown just how much he had planned this battle. He didn't need to explain, but it was in his nature to rub it in to his enemies just how he defeated them.

"You can't play any music if your strings have been clipped. At least my beyblade does requests! Go Dranzer, finish this!"

A huge ball of fire erupted around the blue blade and it sliced down onto the strings, slicing them and incinerating everything else within seconds. Not to far away Emily's face displayed her complete and total shock. She was blinking in horror at her screen. She couldn't believe what she'd seen. Kai called his blade back and walked off without another though, a satisfied smirk clearly on his features.

Emily hadn't been able to record any data at all on Kai's blade. She had tried, and she'd baited him on purpose into dragging Dranzer out in battle. Yet Kai hadn't even needed the bitbeast to do what he'd intended to do, and he had been well prepared for her recording device. It had taken him less then a second to destroy the threat and prove his point – he was not to be predicted.

_Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids. _

"Shut up." Was all he had to say to the teasing voice of Anna who had no other comments to add to the battle. Emily's computer may not have been able to pick up the flare that Dranzer had created, but Emily hadn't been expecting the tactic, and where Emily was a genius – Anna could out place her any day. After all, she literally spent her entire life and childhood doing nothing but hacking and retrieving information for the International Security Agency, she had better be good at what she did.

Oddly enough though Kai actually did seem to warm up to his fellows. He had fewer snarky comments and far more actually meaningful words of insight to add to their problems. Not to mention the fact that he was completely and totally predictable to his brother and brother's girlfriend. Whatever they seemed to say about him always came true.

As the American Tournament went on, Kai opened himself up and actually seemed to care about his teammates and their happenings. He was no fool, and it was clear that he understood and was accepting to Max's dilemma and relationship with his mother. The next scene was from a clip that briefly showed his rough way of handling the situation, and he (as always) did it in a way that freed him of any assumptions towards the feelings he may or may not have had towards the other boys.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Tyson asked. He was still green in the face, and this clip was clearly from when he had gotten that stomach bug from his disgusting eating habits. Despite the ample opportunity to mock and berate the other for his idiocy that forced the Captain to actually blade, Kai had remained tactfully silent more times then not. Tyson was looking over towards Max, and taking in the forlorn expression on the boy's features.

"My mom left the arena already." It was clear that the blonde had been hoping to say goodbye to the woman, or at least meet up with her to share in his excitement over his win.

"Well, what are you standing around for? She may still be here." Tyson, motherless and very supportive of the 'parade the parents' foundation, was practically shoving Max in order to get him to comply.

"But Kai still has to play his session." Kai glanced over, his mouth dropping slightly at the blonde's touching comments. There really was no reason for Max to stay, none whatsoever. If it had been him, he would have just left. That much was evident, no one could stop him from doing something that he truly wanted to do.

"Just go, this session's meaningless." Kenny replied simply enough. Perhaps the thickest when it came to Kai, Kenny's harsh words made the heir glower and look away as he started towards the dish. Tyson let his emotions run him, and he was most certainly antagonistic towards Kai's personality, but Kenny seemed to be socially awkward in general when it came to the domineering personality that Kai possessed. The geek didn't know what to do with it.

"Can I?" Max glanced back towards his Captain who oddly enough looked over once more. All eyes were on him, and Kai didn't even hesitate to respond.

"We've already won by taking two out of three sessions, the last one's merely a formality." As touching as it was that Max had cared enough to stick around, the red eyed teen knew well enough that he wanted to be with his mother that he barely saw...something that Kai could most certainly understand.

As they were running away, Kai glanced back at his opponent. Subtitles appeared to show that Anna was once more playing commentator with his life. He sneered slightly at whatever it was that she said, clearly not impressed with her as the words appeared on the screen.

_You've just been itching for another chance to cream some poor kid into the ground hmm?_

"I'd rather go with them then do this." Kai muttered out loud as he looked over towards Mario.

_Awe, you _do _care_.

The battle was over before it began, it had lasted almost as long as that one attack had in the last fight. One hit wonder, and Kai was walking back to the locker room. Everyone else had left already and he was tired and clearly looked like he was ready to head back to the hotel and take a much needed rest.

The skip over the rest of the American Tournament was surprising. Considering how many people in that room were directly involved in that tournament, one would assume that they would have a moment on screen to show the rest of the battles. Yet Anna clearly didn't think that they were very important because she was skipping the rest all together.

In reality, it made sense. Everyone knew what had happened during those days. There was no need to extend it further. Max had stunned the crowd with his amazing win, and Kai had shown his faith and trust in Max. He needed this team to win the tournament so they would place the championship in Russia. Yet he lay his faith in Max, the worst player to set up against the All Starz. If anything it showed how much he wanted the team to grow on their own without his help. He had been resolved to not fighting any of their meaningless battles. He needed them to buck up, because a storm was coming.

The next scene that was showed was on the ship to Europe. Who would have guessed that one of the girls that Max had been playing with in the pool was actually Anna? The pretty brunette who was in sore need of another bleaching solution to her hair, swam over when the blonde had left and splashed around near the side of the pool until Kai had shown up. He was barefoot, holding his shoes in his hand as he sat down nearest to her and lay back.

She splashed him teasingly in the face and he glowered at her for a moment before sighing heavily. They were talking, their voices quiet and because of the noise it was impossible to truly hear what they were saying, but whatever it was, Anna looked like she was thinking about something rather intently, and Kai looked exhausted.

It was something they'd started to notice. As the film wore on, Kai was starting to get more and more weary looking. He didn't seem to be thinking much about anything except for what was going to happen, and he was completely worn out because of it. A while ago, Michaels had told them all that the project "Freedom" was now being moved into a new category since they were coming to the end.

The competition and everything that was going to be thrown was going to be put into a new category. Newly named, their whole lives now appeared to be mirror images of this title. Project Free-fall. As a text book definition a free-fall was when something was falling with nothing other then the acceleration of gravity pulling them down. Well now they were falling, and the only thing that was bringing them down was themselves. They really were going to blow everything. It was making worry lines appear under Kai's eyes, and it was making everyone start to get anxious for the boys themselves. The Watchers in particular were starting to realize just how troublesome it was for the Demolition Boys to loose the tournament. They were risking their very lives in doing so...

Not to long after the brief appearance between the two Tyson was making a fool out of himself to Robert who basically tore into him and destroyed him for all he was worth. The Japanese boy was furious and he was hurting and he swore he just wanted to forget that day. At some point Kai had snuck into the room and watched the battle, taking in the appearance of the unknown blader and calculating the risks involved with the battle.

Even more surprisingly were Kai's words to Tyson about it. They weren't the harsh words of cynicism that everyone was expecting, in fact they were enlightening and thoughtful. Kai had actually put some time into thinking about his response, and in a very unsual way he had replied. "I disagree completely." He'd announced when everyone wanted to just forget the loss. "We should always remember this low point – not you on your knees specifically," he added without even looking at the slumped boy, "but how our team was defeated by an outsider. This will be a constant reminder of how we can never rest on our laurels. I'm referring to the whole team Tyson, your defeat could have happened to any of us."

"That's good advice Kai." Tyson nodded slightly in awe.

"It sure is, I feel a bonding moment coming on." And the others just had to ruin it. Kai growled low in his throat as talk of a group hug was mentioned and he spun on one foot and stalked away agitatedly. Yet was it just them, or was there a brief smile on the normally cold boy's face?

A smile that could only have come because like everyone else in his life, he too was Free-falling. He was the only thing that was affecting it. He was actually starting to like his teammates, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore that.

**Windstar: **I admit that I have a great amount of fear with bringing Adeline into this. Because of the station that I put her in, I was fearful for a number of reasons. One, because I know the knee jerk reaction to hearing of princesses and the like is to think "Dear God it's a Mary Sue." Two, because Tala had Anna adding another girl seemed worrisome to me. And three: I was worried people would hear about the Napoleon family and immediatly start pointing out historical inaccuracies.

So here I go, adressing all three:

1. I can honestly say, with much conviction, I hate Mary Sues as much as the next person. As to who exactly Kai would want to be with though, I found myself having much time considering. Tala went for Anna. He went for the girl that didn't need to get explained his life, had no concerns about being judgemental and had no thoughts about his past. That was who Anna was. The brick that wouldn't move, so deeply intwined but not yet tainted with their lives that he was comfortable with her and comfortable with embracing her as a loved one. Kai isn't that person though. Kai lived a similar, but much different life then Tala. Where Tala wanted someone to be there who could understand him because no one ever did in his life, Kai honestly isn't the same way. To me, Kai is far more secretive about his life and his family then Tala. In this story, he didn't tell anyone about his involvement with the ISA or who he family was. Even in the show, he made no discussions about who he was and what he was worth and said nothing about his background.

That is all signs of someone who would not want to date an "Anna Clone." He'd want someone different. So I thought long and hard about it. What type of person would Kai Hiwatari actually go for? And the answer was simple: Someone who wouldn't ask questions about things he wasn't willing to tell, and someone who loved unconditionally and yet at the same time was completely untouchable. Someone who could understand the burden of being wealthy and the burden of having immense responsibilities. Someone who could relate to his pain without actually ever needing to know about it. And to me, that person is Adeline.

The Pulse will have far more scenes with her in it then On the Three will, and all I can say really, is that I truly hope that you as fans of this fic will not hate me for how I've decided to run Kai's love life. To me, Adeline is the girl that he always wanted and is the girl that he can never have. Much like Tala, he too will have a rough relationship ahead. Again, she's a "so called" princess of France. (I chose France because to me, Kai would want someone who was far away from his world, and you know what they say about French women and love). There are issues with it and it is all entirely plausible and related.

2. I really hope you all will forgive me for throwing another bit of romance at you, but what can I say, this story is dedicated to Tala and Kai. It's practically all about their lives. How can I, in good faith, give Tala a romance and not Kai? It's like in Yu Yu Hakusho where everyone ends up with a lover of some kind at the end and Kurama gets...nothing. He gets a sob story in the manga (not the anime) of how a girl loved him but he erased her memory. Well excuse me, but I am not YYH, and I am not going to make my favorite characters lonely for the rest of their lives because people can't handle it. That being said, Ian I have no plans at all for a relationship with. Bryan might at some point but NOT in this fic. If anything it would be discussed in the epilogue of the sequel. The same goes for Spencer...Ian too I guess...

3. Yes. The Napoleon family does exist. Yes, they are called Princes and the like of France. No, Adeline is not a real person. Yes, I made up all the information about the monopoly on French businesses and everything about the financial aspect. To me, hey, they got to make money still right? I needed a way to get them to meet and it came out perfectly with a business deal. Sue me! If you know anything about the family and their dealings, feel free to inform me in a reveiw. Otherwise, just go with the flow. I did it all for a reason.

On that note, please, enjoy The Pulse!


	25. A Death In The Family

**Windstar:** I am sooo sorry. I did this last night. Looked at it, nodded, finished the proof reading and turned it off. I'm so completely sorry. Please forgive me! This is the longest chapter thus far and it is by far one of the saddest. I have to let you all know that I totally and completely apologize for how sad this story is going to seem for the next few chapters. I promise there is actually a happy ending at the end of this. There really is.

I'm glad you all approve of Adeline. She only appears once in this story. If you want to see more of her you'll see her in Chapter Two of the pulse.

Thanks for reviewing everyone, especially Marieke who is the only one to have gone over to the Pulse. It means a lot!

College has been hell so far so thanks for waiting all day for this, but here it is!

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

"Sorry boys, Mr. Dickenson is unavailable right now." Kai purposefully kept his back to her when she came out, and didn't even spare her a second glance as she stopped in front of them. The Blade Breakers stared in dumbstruck awe at the girl behind the counter at the BBA. Reddish brown hair and blue eyes aside, british accent ignored, the girl was none other then Anna Jones – and they didn't even recognize her! No wonder Kai was moodily silent during that whole exchange. He barely cast a glance at her the whole time. Even when they'd left themselves wide open for his constant criticism he'd been mutely silent. "Sorry to disappoint you, the chairman is not in his residence right now, I'll inform you as soon as I get a hold of him. In the meantime, you're more then welcome to stay here with us. That's what we're here for, taking care of beybladers!"

She clearly had gotten into her role, the cheeky excitement and over happy statements were overly done, and at the time they'd brushed it off as just something, as a worker, she was supposed to say. Now though it was quite obvious that she had just about enough sitting around doing nothing and wanted to get involved.

"Uh...I guess we'll wait..." Rei mumbled awkwardly, earning a beaming smile.

"I'll check you into a hotel suite." She reached for the phone and picked it up, amusement playing on her features as she dialed.

"Thank you." The boys mumbled as they started to look around the BBA's office space.

"Hey...is that...Robert?" Tyson called out as he ran over to a board hanging on a wall nearby. Kai rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible, and had the Blade Breakers been paying attention to something other then the board, they would have noticed Anna swatting their Captain upside the head and earning a glare to which she simply looked back with a cheeky smile of clear innocence.

"What's he doing here?" Rei asked as he glanced back, the two easily back into their roles for the moment, and separated.

"Oh that? That's a picture from last month's tournament, Robert went undefeated the whole time. He's the regional champ!" She was gushing again, and Kai actually mumbled something the others had missed at the time.

"There goes Luka's _number one fan_." He griped, but the others were to dumbstruck to have noticed, all looking back at the photo. Anna swatted him again before the others could turn around and look.

"The regional champ?" Max asked, awestruck.

"I'm not surprised. He's awful tough." Tyson supplied, remembering his humiliating defeat at the hands of the German blader.

"So Robert will be competing in Russia for the championship?" Kenny asked, and Anna shrugged.

"Actually, no, he's not going." She said easily enough. Kai snorted, shaking his head, but she didn't dare to do anything with everyone watching.

"Why isn't he?" Max asked curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Rei added on, voicing his own curiosity.

"I...I'm afraid I haven't got a clue." She looked taken aback by the onslaught and it earned her the freedom of getting out from under their gazes because everyone was looking back to the poster.

"Robert isn't competing? But he's the best beyblader I've ever seen, it just doesn't make sense." Tyson muttered softly as he stared at the photo a bit longer.

"I have some paperwork that your Captain needs to fill out, and if you'd like I can give you some records of Mr. Jurgen that we have collected."

"Paperwork?" Kai asked as he turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, as you are technically in charge of the Blade Breaker team I need you to sign off on a few things because of the arrangements that I've made, it will only take a few minutes, if you would follow me?" He sighed heavily and nodded, glowering the whole way.

"Hey, can we come too?" Tyson whined, but she would not be deterred.

"I'm afraid this will only take a few moments, don't worry, here's some work you can look over if you'd like." She smiled brightly as she handed them a huge stack of paper and disappeared through a door to the left with their captain in tow.

"What'd you give them?" Kai asked he closed the door behind him.

"Oh this and that, nothing of consequence I can assure you." She laughed playfully. Turning to face the room he actually glowered at the man inside. Christopher. Glaring at his boss from the BBASS the teen crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"What do _you _want Miss. Chris?" He asked moodily. The man sighed and shook his head slightly.d.

"Why is it that you kids insist on calling me that?" He muttered under his breath.

"Because it's better then calling you a _mis-take_." They both griped in unison. He rolled his eyes and raised a camera up from his desk, snapping a photo before the boy could react. Red eyes narrowed as he frowned at the man. "What the hell was that for?" He hissed.

"Michaels misses your face Grey." The other replied easily enough.

"Whatever."

"It's for the file, now I believe we need your signature..."

"Yeah yeah, I could have done this outside. What's the secret meeting for?"

"We're delivering a tape of some importance to the hotel you'll be staying at, I trust you'll allow your team to watch it?" Kai crossed his arms over his chest.

"As if I could stop them from doing something they wanted to do. What's on it? You know how much I've been wanting to see that new movie...the one with the kids that find out their spies...now where have I heard that from?" Anna giggled at the joke and the teen sent her a smile.

"Enough, it's about the mission...Mr. Dickenson thinks it's something the boys should see...to prepare them."

"Uh-huh. Whatever. Can I go now?"

"What has got you in this mood, you never acted like this with Michaels-"

"Michaels never made me miss a ship to my home land simply because he wanted to send me a video tape, nor did Michaels ever force me to do something that wasn't in the best interest for _my _team. Now you can sit there all you want and complain and say that I'm not treating you fairly, but in my opinion, making us miss that boat on purpose was low. _I _needed to get home _soon_. You and your stupid games are making that a little difficult _Miss Chris." _

"You have four months before the tournament, you have more then enough time-"

"You realize that I've got to get into that Abbey and convince Boris to let me get my hands on Black Dranzer don't you? You really think that that's going to happen with only a week's time? Knowing my team it's going to take at least three months to travel Europe, and you just like to keep making it harder don't you?"

"Kai-"

"Enough. I'm out of here. God I knew there was a reason we spent more time with the ISA then we did with you." He grumbled as he started back the way he came, he stopped shortly and looked at Anna for a moment. "And take that wig off before someone sees you and tries to get you killed."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself thank you. Now if you insist on yelling at Miss. Then that's fine, but don't you do it to me Hiwatari." She snapped, arms folding across her chest. Kai hesitated for a moment before nodding and continuing back the way he came.

When the next scene appeared, the Blade Breakers were in their hotel room that Anna gave to them, and they were watching the video that had just arrived. Slightly creeped out by the fact that there was a camera of sorts in their _hotel room _they were comforted when they noticed that the camera was in fact on Kai's wrist band, whenever he moved the camera would shift and get out of focus, but it was usually pretty accurate.

"_We can finally confirm our speculations; they have existed and interacted with our civilizations since the birth of man. Their images appear as idols in early civilizations; such as ancient Babylon and Egypt."_

"What is he talking about?" Tyson asked as he stared at his father on the movie within the movie.

"_Although different societies give them different names, the translated meaning always remains the same. They are always considered to be powerful sacred spirits. Part mythological, part magic, the __melding of both science, and nature, today they have a new name: Beyblade Bitbeasts."_

"Bit beasts!" Kai's voice was a low rumble due to how close the sensor was to him, and one of the girls squealed when she heard it.

"What-beasts? So my father's sacred spirits are actually bitbeasts?" Tyson was awed, and in real life, it had been confirmed earlier when Mr. Dickenson had said he was going to send Mr. Granger on the expedition.

"_According to legend most sacred spirits exist in animal forms. They appear in hundreds of fables, fairy tales, and myths- always attatched to a small object, and appearing in a powerful burst of energy whenever they are called upon."_

"A small object? Like the bit in our beyblades?"

"No way." Max could hardly believe what he was hearing, but Rei seemed to believe it as he spoke up.

"That makes a lot of sense. The White Tiger clan has been passing Drigger down from generation to generation since ancient times."

"And that's what happened to me! It's a family heirloom, the dragon heart sword's bit." Tyson added thoughtfully.

"Then it's true, our bitbeasts are those sacred spirits that your dad mentioned." While it was hard to imagine Dizzy as being a real bitbeast as she was trapped inside of a computer, Kenny's words did include her too and that in of itself included him in the number of rare beybladers that had the spirits.

"_These sacred spirits are veered as a symbol of great power in countries all over the world, however there are some notable exceptions to this rule. There are some powerful spirits that have grown evil over the centuries."_

"Oh man...there are evil bitbeasts?" That was the bit that made Kai interested. Though they couldn't see his face, it was obvious from how still the camera suddenly got that the boy had tensed, he was listening closely.

"_That sums up our initial findings, I'll report again as soon as we discover anything else."_

"Stupid thing barely said anything at all." He muttered as he shook his head. Rei frowned at him

"What are you talking about? I found it very informative." Kai just shrugged.

"You would."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tyson interjected, but the captain was already walking away, his hand going to his wrist where he was disabling the camera on it.

Not to long after that the Blade Breakers were in that alley facing off against the first of the Dark Bladers. The camera setting was easily enough recognizable as the one that Anna had on her laptop and with the occasional typing sounds in the background it was confirmed that somewhere above the fight she had been sitting and recording it for her own data purposes.

Tyson jumped the gun stupidly and got involved in the fight head first. It didn't take long for him to realize though that the mummy bitbeast didn't want a conventional match and was going straight for Dragoon. So obviously Rei, and Max had to get involved without thinking and launch their blades. "Wait we need to make a plan!" Kai hissed hopelessly as they ignored him and went on right ahead. "God damn it these brats never listen!" He growled under his breath as he crossed his arms.

They hadn't seen what he clearly had in the first place – the alley was too narrow for them the maneuver. The way they wanted to. Or at least, it was too narrow at that particular moment for the bladers' capabilities to allow them too. So the first thing they did to fix the problem was call out their bitbeasts and the mummy bit of their enemy just wrapped them up so they can't move.

"There's nothing we can do now....Dragoon!" Tyson yelped in surprise. He couldn't believe how badly he was loosing.

"Not yet, there's still one beyblade left." Kai said easily enough. He'd actually thought things through long enough to get an idea on how to fix things.

"Kai!" Rei seemed surprised by the idea of his involvement but he just shrugged it off.

"Come and get me you walking bandaid." He glanced around, taking in the alley and the things in it one more time. "Let it rip!" And with that Dranzer was out. The mummy's arms flew out to grab it, but it veered to the left, causing the arms to trip up. Then it jumped hitting the fire escape and running up the railing then cutting through the various spaces in the bars. It jumped to the ground, scooting through the garbage, up another fire escape, constantly verering to the left or right to get away from the long arms that just kept getting longer.

"Don't give up yet, Kai only looks like he's retreating..." Kenny said faithlessly even as the fire child smirked. Kenny had no idea what he was talking about at times.

"That's it...follow the leader." He mumbled smugly.

"Hah! Take that!" Tyson hooted, laughing.

"It looks like Kai's got that mummy under wraps." Rei punned at his Captain's annoyance. He'd grown up with enough of Bryan's puns to last him a lifetime, he didn't need Rei's too.

"He used its own power against it."

"That's brilliant!" Max was clearly awed.

"Fire arrow!" Kai ordered, eyes locked on his blade. The bandages vanished from the trapped bitbeasts and the enemy was defeated.

"Kai did it! They're free!" Max all but jumped up and down in his excitement.

Kai however wasn't phased, he kept his eyes locked on his target. The bitbeast was still trapped from where it had wound itself up, and Kai wasn't taking any chances. "Who are you? Come out of there!" Kai snapped his tone deadly. A dark laughter was all he got in return as a figure slowly appeared in the darkness of the alley. A green cloak with yellow accents...glowing eyes....Kai actually had to restrain himself from flinching but he had to ask to make sure....it looked too much like Boris for a moment. "What...uh...are you?"

"I am your destruction....Cenotaph! Retreat!" The mummy tore out the bandages and brought the fire escape down with it as it pulled back.

"He's free!" Tyson shouted in dismay.

"You won't be so lucky when we meet again!" The dark person said with a sneer. "For that's when I'll break the Blade Breakers!" As he slowly vanished, the others all stared. Kai's mouth was dropped slightly, he looked like he couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

"He-he vanished...into thin air...yeah...we were lucky this time..." And Kai actually restrained himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance as he turned and walked away.

"What type of freak dresses up like a zombie and then does magic tricks and expects us to take him seriously?" He muttered under his breath as the screen faded into darkness.

As for the rest of the European trials, they were a huge surprise to most everyone. Who would ever have guessed that the actual reason that Kai had lost his battle was actually because he'd taken a bet up with Tala?

The slate haired boy was standing out on the balcony of one of the hotel's they'd been staying at and he was talking on his cell phone, the other end of the conversation picking up and carrying over to the subtitles in order to actually be understood.

"I'm just saying that it seems like if this team can actually beat them and make them realize how important it is to try, then I think it'd be advantageous for them to go head to head." Kai was saying simply enough, not realising he'd already sealed his own fate. There was the sound of laughter on the other end and Tala replied with the dare.

"Well then I dare you to lose to the first one you get a chance to fight with."

"What the hell? Why on earth would _I _need to lose?" Kai hissed angrily. He didn't like losing, that much was obvious, but Tala didn't seem to take note.

"Simple, they'll realize that they need to train more to become world champions – didn't you say so yourself."

"I don't need to lose to prove that to them. I could win and still do it."

"Yeah, but I didn't dare you to win, I dared you to lose."

"There's nothing in it for me if I do." Kai argued petulantly, sounding much more like a child than an adult.

"Then a wager. I bet that you won't do it, and if I win, you have to leave the BD Server to me. Meaning I take care of it completely and you don't go anywhere near it."

"And if I do do it?"

"Then you can get to do it with no complaints on my part."

"Steep stakes, but when you put it that way you already know you're going to lose."

"Yes, but you have to lose first. I just _know _Anya will get me the footage so I can make copies of it."

"Try it and you'll never see your Lady Love again." Tala laughed slightly and then trailed off.

"How are you doing though...seriously?"

"I'm doing fine Luka, quit worrying about me. How are things on your end?" There was silence. And then a quiet sigh.

"Not so good..." a shiver of warning went through the watchers backs. They had barely heard of anything else about the Abbey for a while, and it wasn't all that surprising to see how things were getting worse.

"What's going on?" Kai whispered worriedly.

"Mikhail...I think he's going to do something incredibly stupid. He's going to get himself killed."

"What? Mikhail's never done anything without thinking of himself first. He'll be fine."

"No Kai...he's got a weird bond with my little brother and mother...I think he's going to try to get them out before the baby comes..."

"You think he's going to kidnap Kiril right out of the Abbey?"

"Yes...I think he's going to do something like that..."

"Why? What's the rush? He must know by now that Free-Fall is underway and that we're going to get everyone out of that place in a matter of months."

"There's no time...something's going to happen soon, and I'm not going to have any say over it. Just take care of yourself and I'll try to hold him off...but Kai...the sooner you get your team to Russia, the better."

"We'll finish up with these Europeans and I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Don't forget to lose."

"Don't forget to breathe...I've got to go. Keep a leash on Mikhail, we're almost out of here."

"Pakah braht." _Goodbye brother_.

"Pakah braht." The screen faded into nothing.

It was humorous therefore when the watchers noticed Kai's less then pleasant mood he was in ever since they'd been given the invite to Robert's _mansion _(more like a castle) and the ride on the blimp through the storm. At first it could have been just chalked up to Kai's usual demeanor, but upon further inspection it was clear that he was actually rather agitated.

"That's just not right! They should not be able to use security footage from my own home!" Robert yelled out indigently once he saw the familiar dining room where the Blade Breakers and two other Majestics were sitting in wait. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it's kind of creepy actually..." Oliver said as he shivered. "But then again, they are the International Security Agency..."

"But there's no privacy! The other tapes I can understand, that was part of an ongoing investigation and set in public quarters, this however I must protest to!" Robert was actually seething, and the others were slowly trying to calm him down.

"Children, there's a movie going on, complain about it later!" Emily snapped as she glared at the german boy.

On the screen Tyson just could not stop fidgeting. He was tapping his fingers and toes and anything else he could think of, and he was complaining the whole while. He was being a complete distraction! (In real life, Tyson apologized quietly for being such a nuisance.)

"Awe nuts! I've had enough of this!" Tyson on tv shouted at long last as he stood up and started to storm for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kai asked, clearly annoyed by his behaviour and growing tired of his agitating personality.

"To find him! I don't care who he is, he's not going to snub me!"

"Go sit down." It was said in exasperation, and it was clear Kai didn't think much of Tyson's plan. He wasn't even ordering him to do it, it was simple and clear annoyance and it was testament enough to how worked up he'd been in the first place to by past orders and just talk normally rather then putting on his tough guy routine.

"W-what?" Tyson clearly was surprised by the words, surely he thought Kai'd agree with him because he was actually startled. Although his puzzlement seemed to snap Kai back into his normal bossy self because the next thing he said was clearly a command.

"I said sit down. You'd just end up getting lost."

"Give me a break, he's just stalling that's all, and I'm tired of being treated like some dirt bag!"

"But Tyson-" Kenny tried to calm the other down, but he was going to get nowhere with the hot head.

"I'm outta here!" And with that the boy stormed away. Kai sighed and shook his head slightly.

"He never listens."

Of course it didn't take long for Tyson to figure out that if he had just waited with the rest of them he could have avoided the run through the castle by dropping spikes and a slide into a fire, but he never did listen. Fifteen minutes later they were all getting ready to do their match with Robert. Kai still in a foul mood, it looked like he'd never get over himself. He was silent the whole time and barely talking to them, if anything it was like he was just indulging them.

"How about we make this wager a little more interesting?" Johnny asked as he inspected the suits of armor around him. "Like you beat me to get to Robert? But of course you know that will never happen, right? So then, you're my first victim." He twirled around and pointed straight at the Captain who looked more bored with the suggestion then anything else. The others gasped at the announcement, but he remained motionless and with a raised eyebrow of clear boredom attached. "I think you look like you'd be more of a challenge then your little friends. Well, don't you?"

"No thanks." He said easily.

"W-what?"

"I said. No thank you. Besides, I don't have time to be playing games with the likes of you, _Johnny_."

"Boy, for someone who doesn't talk much, he sure talks tough." Enrique quipped as he watched Kai starting to walk away.

"And he sure put Johnny in his place didn't he?" Oliver added with a giggle.

"Oh, you wanna play hard ball do ya? Well you just crossed the line buddy and now you're going to have to pay!" Johnny yelled furiously, his eyes flashing with his ire. Kai just kept walking away though, ignoring him completely.

_Oh come on Kai, you're seriously going to give up the BD Server just because Johnny's being an idiot? _Anna's voice quipped, and almost instantly Kai turned around, ignoring Robert's flip anger management comment. Somethings he'd be willing to deal with, but he wasn't going to let Tala win their little bet.

"You're mine!"

"Alright then. Let's do it." Kai said simply enough, though there was a tension in his voice. He did not like to lose. Even during the match itself when he declared "I've never thrown in the towel and I'm not starting now." was proof alone that he was agitated with the predestined loss. He had the decency to look at least slightly shocked when he did lose though. He scooped up his blade and looked at it for a while, almost as though he were apologizing for not doing things right the first time.

"It's nobody's fault. We just have to get stronger as a team. Johnny showed us that we're not the best beybladers around, and we've got work to do." Rei said easily enough.

"You're absolutely right Rei, we'll show em. Someday soon we'll have our revenge." Tyson announced easily enough. Kai looked up. At least things were going as planned on their front. Things had a good chance of not going as planned not to far away though, and he was not looking forward to hearing the news about whatever was happening in Russia.

Tala was crouching in front of his little brother and a small child next to him. There was a pleasantly neutral look on his face, and it seemed like he toned down his dark aura when he was around the child. He wasn't smiling and yet he was certainly at ease with these little children.

A slam of screen made the boys flinch, and the teen turned to look behind him. Boris appeared, his posture stiff and his fists clenched. His back was to the camera, and as he moved closer to the trio the Tala stood sharply and positioned himself before the boys effectively making them vanish behind him.

"Sir." The red head dipped his head, but the moment his eyes met the floor a white glove snapped sharply across his face. He barely moved at the strike, and instead he simply looked up unflinchingly at the man.

"You murderous little traitor." He hissed as he caught the teen by the throat. "You bastard child of a whore, who knew I had my own little snake in the grass when I created you." Blue eyes looked at him without even so much as a waver.

"Sir?"

"You told the ISA quite a bit now didn't you? _I _watched you." At that the boy nodded sharply.

"Sir, if you'll allow me the chance to explain, I will do so." Tala's words were so slippery and soothing that it was clear that he was more then capable of dealing with this matter easily enough. Boris didn't give him the chance. He took the boy and he threw him to the floor. Toddlers yelped and ran in two different directions as they tried to avoid getting crushed by the sixteen year old.

"So I can hear more of your lies? What have you been filling the head of my little prince with hmm?" Boris leered towards Kiril who was staring at his idol with wide eyes. He was terrified. Tala glanced back at him and just motioned for him to speak, he had nothing to fear from the child. "Kiril?" Boris coaxed as he stomped on the teen's hand where it was motioning.

"He-he said that we were holding our blades wrong." The boy said, stuttering at first and then gaining confidence. "Adrien and me were prac-ta-sing." He held his blade up as proof and the other boy nodded shyly not to far away. Boris glared towards the boy and grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"What is a maggot like you doing with my boy?" The little boy's eyes filled with tears and Kiril screamed as he ran forward trying to pull his friend back.

"No! Adrien's my czar!" All eyes flew to the bronze haired boy. Tala raised an eyebrow.

"Guard?" He offered knowingly as slightly darker haired boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah, _guard_!"

"It's _yes_, Prince." A voice to the side whispered into the room. Mikhail was walking towards them, his eyes glancing over to the teen still on the ground for a brief moment.

"Mikhail. Where have you been?" Boris hissed angrily. The young man apologized briefly.

"I was getting prepared for my meeting with Lord Voltaire at noon Lord Director." He bowed lowly. Tala frowned tightly. He was staring at his foster brother long and hard, and all the watchers could easily recall the red head's opinion on what was going to happen in the future.

"And you let my boy mingle with this _traitor_?"

"Sir?" Sharp eyes forced the guard to glance down at the teen who revealed nothing. His face was passive. He didn't look concerned. Either he was acting once more, or he was found out. Either way, Mikhail looked as though he were thinking rapidly.

"He told the ISA far more then he led me to believe he was sharing with those bastards." Adrien's arm was roughly released and the boy stumbled back towards Kiril who helped him remain upright. Then the two stared at the scene in front of them with growing surprise.

"Sir, in order to gain their trust I told them things to keep them interested. I have not told them all of the important details that you requested that I not share." Tala said simply, not in the least bit concerned. Boris glanced towards him.

"You spend far to much time with my son, boy." So that's what this was all about. It had nothing truly to do with him being a spy. Tala raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, am I to understand that you believe me to be corrupting your Prince?" Mikhail looked stunned at the wording. Theoretically, Tala if anything would be the heir to Boris Balkov. In the event that his great scheme actually worked, Boris would be the ruler of the world, Voltaire would be murdered at some point since he was no longer necessary, and Tala would be his first born son and heir....yet he was never once called that.

He never once drew focus to the fact that he was the man's child. He never once dared to call himself a Prince. He never once said anything of the sort. He was a master of wordplay. Boris didn't consider him his heir. He considered Kiril his heir. That being said, daring to call the boy his brother, or daring to put himself in a place of grandeur would only make things worse.

And expectantly, lapping up the words of his estranged child, Boris laughed and nodded his head.

"Yes..._my _Prince. You...you are far to much like your fool mother." A mother that he kept in the dungeon to produce more children. The words were so close to the surface on everyone of the watchers' minds, and yet they said nothing. No one spoke. Everyone was quiet. How ironic was it then that the boy that was stolen from his mother when he was just a baby was so much more like her when the child that grew under his mother's wing and with a deep fear for his father was more like that man then anyone else? Kiril glanced at his brother who didn't meet his eyes. He was focused on the man before him. "Did you know that that woman is having twins?"

"No sir." The redhead replied easily. He truly hadn't known.

"Yes...twins....and one is a girl." Blue eyes narrowed darkly. The only sign of emotion on the boy's face. The only sign of his act faltering. "Do you know what we do to girls in this Abbey of men?" Mikhail actually looked decidedly pale.

"Kill them sir." Tala replied, his voice even, even as he stared straight back with little emotion.

"Yes...but it's not a quick and painless death...no...the child will be ripped from your mother's stomach and she will be slaughtered like the animal she is for _daring _to contaminate my boy."

Unsurprisingly at the news there was a flash of hatred on the red head's face. It was the first signs of his mask crumpling. He looked like he was actually about to go and kill Boris. He looked like he was ready to do the deed right then and there, before all these people, he was ready to destroy him completely.

"Kiril and Nikita will not be tarnished by either your ill fated sister or you...you are nothing boy. Nothing but a means to an end, and trust me when I say you will never be considered a Prince in my Court you _snake._"

"I have no desire to be as such. I wish only to serve you and yours from now until the end of days." Tala's voice was actually quite calm considering how much it looked like he truly wanted to slaughter the man in front of him. Boris smiled pleasantly at him and nodded.

"Maybe you'll be a little monster and kill this _new _girl as well?" And with that he slowly started to slink away back into the shadows. For a moment, Tala just continued to lay where he was, his eyes closed as he concentrated fully on breathing. Mikhail watched him for a moment before sighing heavily and fiddling with the mask that he was wearing.

It was little Kiril who first broke the silence. He slowly walked forwards and he touched his idol's hand that still lay motionless on the floor from where it had been stomped on. Blue eyes cracked open to stare at him for a brief moment. Before he slowly moved his hand away and sat up. Pushing himself to his feet he glanced towards Mikhail and frowned heavily.

"I'll be leaving soon." The man said slowly as he looked at his foster brother and then tilting his head towards the two small children.

"Don't do it." The red head whispered...but it was only half a whisper...he couldn't bring himself to truly tell the other to stop. He couldn't do it.

"I'll be back." He said simply enough.

"Mikhail-"

"Come along children. Let me bring you to where you belong." He took Kiril's hand and Adrien quickly followed. Tala stared after them for a long while, his body rigid as he watched them go. His bruised hand clenched into a tight fist and in an uncharacteristic fit of anger he slammed it into the nearest wall.

Then suddenly he fell motionless. His eyes looked like they'd stopped seeing everything as he stared out the window closest to him. He looked out it and he kept himself completely still and silent. He was completely and totally still. Only the slight tremors of his lips, so small and unnoticable were his movements. The screen seemed to be put on pause for a moment as an overlay started applying sound. The ringing of a phone filled the room, and then a quick pick up a moment later.

"Da?"

"Mikhail vai morrer." _Mikhail is going to die_.

"Onde esta?" _Where are you?_

"Torre norte do Abbey." _The north tower of the Abbey._

"Que é o que vai facer?" _What is he going to do?_

"El vai tentar salvar a miña familia de Boris ... el vai ter Kiril e miña nai fora. Kai é preciso contar a alguén, fazê-los parar de Mikhail sinatura fóra súa vida. " _He's going to try to save my family from Boris...he's going to take Kiril and my mother away. Kai you need to tell someone, get them to stop Mikhail from signing away his life. _

"Vou probar-"

"Non! Non faga-me gardar un irmán a perder a outra!" _No! Don't make me save one brother to lose another!_

"Vou probar Luka, I'll try." And with that, a single lone tear fell from Tala's emotionless mask as he turned away from the window. Kai couldn't do anything. He wouldn't have time. He wouldn't be able to do a damn thing. There was nothing they could do to stop what was going to happen.

The cameras outside could just pick up the sight of Mikhail and two small children and a heavily pregnant woman rushing out of the Abbey. It wouldn't take long. Not where Boris' _Prince _was concerned. The boy was essential to the man. So it wasn't surprising when moments later there were dozens of guards rushing after them as the three scurried away as fast as they possibly could. They ran and ran and ran, one of the guards raised a gun and fired, and Marina fell to her knees.

Mikhail stopped, and Kiril screamed for his mother, but Marina shouted for them to keep going. And they did. Mikhail grabbed the two toddlers and kept going – disappearing into the darkness of Moskva. Marina clutched the wound on her leg as the guards surrounded her. Her blue eyes looked up, and they widened slightly at something off screen. Her lips moved to say a name, Yuri, but soon her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.

As for Mikhail, he had disappeared. He had taken the two boys, for some reason Adrien had gone along, and he had vanished into Moskva. Boris was furious. He was absolutely furious and he couldn't believe what had just happened. He turned and found Tala watching the scene coldly and he roughly grabbed the boy by the throat, striking him over and over as the redhead was once again a mockery of everything he had done wrong.

The one person he had entrusted his child with. The one person who had known all about the boy and was willing to do whatever it was to continue being the boy's guardian, had disappeared. He never would have guessed Mikhail. He never would have guessed that the boy he had tricked into being the cause of his parents' deaths would have betrayed him so soundly...

Kiril, the boy who would have been Prince of the world, was now gone and all the man had left was his first born who he considered far beneath him, and the unborn child that was in that _woman's _stomach. At five months pregnant that bullet could do some extreme damage since neither child would be able to survive if something happened.

Tala didn't seem to mind the fact he was getting completely pummeled, but at the sudden appearance of Bryan, Boris shoved the boy into his friend and the Air wielder caught him. His face was grim. Clearly he had heard what had happened, and he wasn't pleased in the least. He held his friend up and Tala looked over towards him for a brief moment before sighing heavily and touching his bruised cheek.

"Get that ingrate out of my sight before I do something I regret." Boris hissed angrily, and Bryan complied.

They managed to walk rather far before Bryan finally opened the door to his room and led his companion inside. He sighed heavily and started to look the red head over. He looked miserable, and Tala was struggling hard to keep himself from reacting towards Mikhail's _betrayal_.

"They're going to capture him you know." Bryan said softly. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. "Mikhail prostule..." _Mikhail you fool_.

"Cine a ştiut de idiot a avut-o în el?" _Who knew the idiot had it in him? _Tala murmured in the same language Bryan had spoken, even as he diverted his eyes and wringing his hands tightly.

"Guys!" Ian threw the door open and both looked up quickly. "They got him." He was breathless. He must have run the whole way back.

"The boys?" Tala asked quickly as he got to his feet. Ian shook his head.

"They're gone, and Mikhail's not saying where to."

"What the hell do you mean they're gone?" Tala hissed lowly as he bore into the smallest Demolition Boys. Then he froze for a minute and that blank look appeared on his face.

_Called Michaels, he picked up Kiril and another boy in an abandoned factory, couldn't get Mikhail_. Kai's voice filtered softly. _I'm sorry brother..._

"Damn it all to hell." Tala felt his breath be sucked out of him as he clenched his fists.

"Tala?" Ian whispered worriedly.

"Where the hell is that fucking idiot? I told him not to do something stupid." The teen was furiously trying to get himself under control. Ian motioned back the way they came and the boys quickly moved to follow him.

They were rushing quickly, everyone was. The halls were filled with crowds and people were hurrying to the great hall. The three were just barely able to be able to get through. They were shoving people out of the way, barely taking note of the various children around them. After a time people just started to make a path for them to get through because they didn't want to get trampled on.

They were running as fast as they could, and they knew already that they weren't going to be able to make it in time. They hurried into the door and they pushed open the door and stepped inside, masks plastered onto their faces, they approached. Boris was absolutely fuming in hatred. He was striking at Mikhail with everything in his being, but the other was staying blissfully silent. Kiril and Adrien were gone, and as sad as it was to say, Marina was dying and with her death she would be free from this blood stained cycle.

"Where is my son!?" The man howled as he kept beating the other to death, and yet Mikhail said nothing, and he exposed nothing. He was simply quiet, a look of smugness on his face. He had finally done something of such great worth, he'd saved two children from this place and he'd kept them from being further tarnished by the darkness of the Abbey.

Tala met his eyes as he walked forwards to stand in his assigned place as a Demolition Boy. Bryan at his right, and Spencer at Bryan's right, Ian at the end. Everyone was watching the scene, and as the five hundred children of the Abbey gathered Boris was obliviously proving a point with this, but his tirade was getting no results and the young man he was soundly beating to death was going to keep the whereabouts of those boys to his grave.

Boris himself was getting the idea that the former guard wasn't going to break and so he did the one thing that he could do to get his final acts of revenge on the man who had destroyed his great plan for his child.

"Bryan!" The Air blader stepped forwards. His eyes locked on his friend. The mask had been removed and now there was nothing to stop the world from seeing the handsome and bleeding face of Mikhail Ivanov. The adopted son of parents he unwittingly had a hand in murdering. "Dispatch this traitor from this earth." Boris hissed hatefully.

Bryan's blade launcher/gun was in his hand in a flash. He steadied it had Mikhail's face. The brunette met his gaze unflinchingly. And echoeing through all the watcher's ears were Michael's words...

___For nearly six years, you kids have been dealing with that place under our orders. If we go through with this, and none of the charges stick...then I'm taking you all out before this gets worse, or one of you ends up dead._

_Before...one of you ends up dead. _

_Ends up dead..._

"Boris told me to push Kai into the road. He's the one who caused the car to crash, he's responsible for all the deaths that every child here has-"

_BANG_

No one said a word. No one dared to make a sound. Mikhail's body was slumped on the ground. Blood trailed from the wound in his skull. The young man's death had been assured from the beginning. He had been the driving force behind everything. He had been responsible for saving Tala from that rooftop he'd been flirting with disaster on. He had been the mocking force that they could all blame forever. He was not evil.

No Mikhail was not evil. He was terribly sad and he was always hoping to have a life that was not stolen away by Boris. He was a cunning person who knew how to play all sides to get where he wanted. He was an encyclopedia of information when it came to things he wasn't supposed to know.

He didn't know that pushing Kai that day would get his parents killed. He didn't know that it really had nothing to do with Kai or him being there. That Boris was going to kill them anyway, but having that guilt shoved onto both of them had kept them under his thumb.

He didn't know how to talk to his younger brothers because he was always believing that they would hate him for the deaths of their parents. Yet he had been there when Luka had needed him. He had been there for him, just like he decided to be there for everyone when he did join the ISA. He was there for everyone and he was ready to do it again.

Mikhail was not a bad person. He was not evil, and he was not corrupt. He was simply capable of making the decisions necessary in order to achieve the goal he wanted. He had been totally ruined when he met Marina. He had been totally broken when he saw her face and he saw the child that she was caring for.

He was lost in the hope that he wanted to make things up to his brother. He wanted to show him that he wouldn't let this woman die, this woman who quickly became the mother figure that he too needed. This woman who's child became his ward as he stalked the boys steps to ensure his safety.

He was lost in the fact that he gave up everything to try to make that family happy. He saved Kiril from the Abbey. He got him to safety, and Kiril's friend was with him. Marina was recaptured again, but at least Kiril made it out.

The only true regret that anyone could say that Mikhail had was that poor girl who was slated to die was not able to be saved. Not even born, and never to experience true life, Tala and Kiril's little sister was going to be killed, and there was nothing that could possibly save the child. It was the only regret he had.

So as he lay there, dead on the ground, he was smiling. Even though he never had the chance to finish what it was he was going to say, finish telling the truth about everything he'd learned and everything he knew, he was smiling. He was truly at peace. The guilt of everything had been taken away.

He had absolved himself from his sins by saving those two boys. They were in the hands of the ISA. They were going to be sent off to someplace safe, and they were going to be free. They were not going to be trapped in Boris' world. He knew that the Demolition Boys were going to lose. That his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

The whole world world would be saved and those two children will be able to live in a life without fear or judgement. Kiril could exist as Kiril Valkov – or whatever surname that he so chose. Adrien would be able to be the friend and not the guard. And at long last, Mikhail could rest for eternity without the worries of the Abbey stalking his footsteps.

Mikhail joined them in freedom. He was not free alive, he was constantly entrapped by his guilt and his suffering, but now he was free. Now he was set to sleep forever without the fears and worries of anything. In death he had been saved. Bryan knew that as he pulled the trigger, but it didn't make the pain any less. It didn't stop anything. Instead, it made the people around the room stare in stony silence.

Mikhail may have been free, but the rest of them weren't. The rest of them were not free. The death of that one guard had done nothing except solidify the fact that none of them could betray Boris. That was their fate. Death. Yet at the same time, death was a promising outlook. A quick and painless death like Mikhail's was far better then falling to the darkness of the cannibal ridden hole in the ground that was still in the training center.

A painless death was something that they all, in secret wished for. Yet no one spoke. Everyone remained silent. Bryan turned his back on the corpse, unable to look at the face of his once dearest friend. He walked back to his spot and he glanced at his teammates who held no blame in their gaze, and held only the stony acceptance of everything that was around them.

They lived in this world, and they would accept it as their fate. While Mikhail had earned his freedom in death, they were still bonded to slavery in life, and they were still living in a world that had not changed.

Four months until Liberation day, Mikhail Ivanov was killed on May 7, 2001.


	26. The Beginning Of The End

**Windstar: **Once again, apologies for the slightly late update. Yesterday was the first day of classes and let me tell you, I had to write three seven page essays and that's only for the first class. So homework definitely kicked me in the butt. This is an extra long update though, just for you, over ninethousand words. I hope you like it!

It's also the start of the Russian Tournament!

The Disclaimer is the same as it has been, and thank you to all my reviewers, sorry I don't have much more to say, but I have another paper to write. By!

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

While the watchers continued with their mini series of a video (as the hours drew on they located several other DVDs among the paperwork that continued the film in chronological order), Tala Ivanov shifted slightly on his bed and slowly woke up to face the world around him. It had been two days since the world tournament, and he'd been sleeping through most of it.

Anna was not too far away, working on her laptop as usual, sitting in the corner with her hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. She'd died the blonde out during the tournament, as a surprise to him for when everything was over, and so her normal brunette locks were back right were they belonged.

Coughing slightly to get her attention, he pushed himself up and she glanced up briefly to look at him. Kai was slouched in the opposite corner, still asleep, and someone had put a blanket on him because it looked like it had just been draped over his still form. He'd wake up in seconds if they started talking, and so for now the redhead didn't say anything.

_He's been here since the end of the operation. _The words flashed in his mind and he glanced towards the girl beside him briefly. She was tapping away on her laptop and he knew from experience that she was pulling up her files and accessing his database in order to communicate with him.

_He needs to sleep in a bed, he's going to have a sore back later on._

_He's refusing to return to the hotel, and as for the mansion it's on the opposite side of town – where he can't be in case of an emergency._

_Where are the others?_

_They're at the ISA and around. Spencer's trying to help move the Fortune Five-Hundreds over to the complex we had set up. _

_The what?_

_Fortune Five-Hundreds, a little nickname I created for the Abbey kids...in all there _are _five-hundred of you. I figured it would fit considering..._

_I guess it does, but can you really call any of us fortunate?_

_Luka..._

Kai groaned slightly and the couple turned to look at him briefly for a moment. His red eyes slowly yet surely blinked open as he shook his head slightly. Bangs fell into his face and he raised a hand to shove them out of his eyes. Blinking wearily towards them he noted Tala's state of being, and he opened his mouth slightly.

"I've been up for only a few minutes, we didn't want to wake you." Luka supplied easily enough, knowing the question that was about to be asked. Kai nodded briefly before yawning and moving to stand up. "You eat yet? I'm starved."

"Nah, I'll go find you a pretty nurse with some jello though."

"Screw that, get me a cheeseburger extra greasy with some fries and a chocolate milk shake." Italy ruined him.

"You just got out of surgery for a bullet wound through your stomach and you want something that's going to coat your stomach in fat?" Kai asked incredulously. The red head smiled broadly.

"I didn't get shot _in _the stomach, just around it, and come on, with my body a little fat will do me good."

"You'll make yourself sick. You barely eat junk food in the first place and now you want to upset your-"

"Jeez Kai, fine, get me some substandard gelatin and a carton of milk." He grumbled as he propped his bed up and leaned back on it. The younger teen smirked and nodded as he made his way to the door. Anna jumped up though, stopping him in his tracks.

"I'll get it, you guys should talk." She said perkily and then she skipped out without another word. The two looked at each other for a brief moment before shrugging. Tala scooted over a bit and Kai stretched out at the foot of the bed as he yawned.

"Docs want to get you in for brain surgery as soon as they can." He said wearily as he glanced towards him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they want to get that chip out of your head. Then they want to reverse some of the other...procedures that Boris put you through, said something about it not being normal."

"Maybe I should just stay the way I am." Tala mused softly earning him a raised eyebrow. Not real surprise but more of a question as to why he'd want to. "It does has its perks."

"Yeah, and if anyone besides Anya figures out how to get that chip in your head to work you'll be a walking zombie. I never did get a chance to tell you how much I think you lost it in that last battle." Tala frowned heavily as he looked at his brother.

"You didn't think I'd pull back?"

"No, you had me worried." There was total honesty on his face. There was nothing but truth in his eyes and Tala sighed as he looked at the other. It was hard to ignore such blunt honesty.

"Sorry, but I really was in control...I'm sure if I wasn't, Anna could have hacked in or something and made me spaz out or something."

"Luka-"

"Sacha." Kai smirked and motioned for him to move.

"Scoot over." The redhead quirked an eyebrow and nodded as he shifted aside. Kai plopped himself down next to him and propped his feet up on the bed.

"You're getting dirt on my blankets-"

"Deal with it, the chair's not comfy. Now...about this Sacha thing..."

"Yeah yeah, I'll call you it anyway and you wont be to mad at me regardless." The boy replied, tongue in cheek. The younger teen growled lowly and Tala steadfastly ignored him. "Did you know that Anna gave out the finished draft of _On The Three_ to the Blade Breakers?" Kai turned and stared at him, his mouth dropping open slightly.

"You're shitting me."

"Nah, I caught them trying to break into the ISA's files on the BDS and I hacked their computers. According to them, Anna gave them the tape." Anger flashed across Kai's face as he hissed, his fists clenching tightly as he crossed his arms. There was even something else...worry?

"She had no business doing that." He snapped furiously.

"Don't take it out on me." Tala returned, his voice steady even as his eyes flashed darkly towards his companion.

"I know."

"I actually think it's a good thing for them to watch. It might get them off your case some."

"Yeah, get them off my case only because they're going to throw the pity party from hell. I don't want their pity. Besides it's dangerous-"

"It won't be pity if they understand the situation-"

"They already made it clear to me that they don't want anything to do with me, any changes to that now because of that tape is only going to _be _in the form of pity. And it's-"

"Maybe, maybe not, but give them some credit they spoke in anger and they probably didn't mean half the things they said."

"What's got you on their side all of a sudden?" Kai asked as he raised an eyebrow at the other. He gave up trying to state his concerns with the tape being shown. Clearly Tala wasn't going to listen, so what was the point on trying to say that Anna's plan was a dangerous thing in deed?

"I just think that they might actually be sincere, you should give them a chance."

"Since when have you been all up on second chances?"

"Fine Kai, be a brat, see if I care." A knock at the door made the two look up. A doctor was standing there, his face set in a pleasant smile as he looked at the brothers. Kai frowned, and moved to get off the bed he'd cozied himself up on.

"I see you're awake." The doctor said simply enough and Tala nodded vaguely as he watched his brother return to the chair he'd been sleeping in earlier.

"You're not my PCP." The redhead said as the doctor picked up his file off the bed. Red eyes snapped to stare at the man suspiciously.

"You're right, my name is Dr. Reimer, I'm a coworker to Dr. Egorov, he wants me to bring you down to radiology to get some X-rays done on your unique physiology."

"Seriously, now?" The sixteen year old sighed heavily and glanced towards his brother. "Finish this up later?" He asked and Kai just nodded waving his hand in agreement.

"Yeah, catch up with you then. Just don't count on your jello being around when you get back." Kai snickered and the red head rolled his eyes.

"Nice. Starve me why don't ya."

Tala was slowly eased into a wheel chair despite his complaining, and was taken out of the room, leaving Kai to sit around and wait for his return. Picking up Anna's discarded laptop he started typing away on it, pulling up files and the like and hacking into programs simply because he could.

Finding it incredibly easy to get into the hospital's main database, he started to scroll through patient files until he came to his brother's and he pulled it up. There was a bookmark on it and he frowned, Anna had already been on this page. Looking through it he found nothing unusual, and it was exactly that that made his heart beat slightly faster.

There was nothing about the various procedures that Boris had put the teen through. There was nothing on the metal plates in his body, there was nothing about the chip in his brain. There was nothing at all. All there was was a simple file writing out the cause of the injury and what was done to it. What meds he was on, and his personal information.

His mouth dropped slightly, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't making something out of nothing. Yet when he pulled up doctors files and folders, when he pulled up a list of staff...Dr. Reimer didn't exist, and Dr. Egorov had no such assistants. In fact, the man was off work due to a family illness...and that was all it took. Kai slammed the computer closed and tossed it on the bed. He didn't bother to back out of the files he accessed, it would only help Anna to figure out where he'd gone. Turning and running, he hoped beyond hope that somehow there was such thing as luck, and Tala hadn't left the building yet.

_Meanwhile_

The teams of the world were watching with avid fascination as their movie had moved on to their time in Russia.

"It should be warmer in Moscow." Kenny enlightened when Tyson started to complain about the cold. Kai was laying back on the top bunk bed while the others were on the lower level talking animatedly about the upcoming tournament.

"I hope so, I'm freezing!" How a computer could feel the cold was beyond comprehension, but Dizzy certainly felt like enlightening everyone about her temperature problem. (Didn't computers have a tendency to heat themselves?)

"Not me, I'm too excited thinking about the finals!" Max laughed as he stuffed his face with a chip.

"And I'm interested in what the competition is like." Rei added on with a smile.

"Well I'm pretty sure we have our work cut out for us guys, and unfortunately I don't have any data on the host team." Kenny frowned as he looked at his laptop.

"Hmm so what are we supposed to do just wing it?" Kai rolled his eyes at Tyson's comment, clearly not impressed with how they were thinking about handling the greatest beyblading team in the world.

"All I know about the team is that they're called the Demolition Boys and that they've never been beaten, which means we don't have time to goof around." Max made some comment or other about how wicked they were, and Kenny plowed on unperturbed. "I'd say you're absolutely right Max. Oh and word is that they play rough and that they don't waste time wiping out their opponents in battle."

"I like a rugged bitbeast." Dizzy intoned.

"Agh! I can't wait to meet those guys!" Tyson was pumped full of energy and Max and Rei readily agreed with him.

"Hang on guys, don't get too excited, remember they're undefeated." Kenny cautioned.

"This is going to be a long tournament." Dizzy commented with a laugh.

"Kai, are you stoked or what? Come on buddy, would you quit being such a wet blanket? Okay?" Kai opened his eyes from where he'd been apparently trying to doze while they were being brats below, and glanced at Tyson. "Talking World Champion! Yeah baby!"

"Yeah...World Champion." Kai murmured, but his mind wasn't really in it. He knew the dangers of bringing the Blade Breakers to Russia, and he knew what was going to happen. Within a matter of days he was going to betray the team he'd been with and working on for over a year. Within a matter of days he was going to be saying and doing things that was going to piss everyone off around him – and he knew it too, and he wasn't enjoying it.

When they got off at Moscow, Tyson was immediately harping on about how cold it was, and Kenny just had to make some comments about the geographical location and how temperatures fluctuated based upon the angle and location of the sun. He was a walking nuisance at times. As they walked they just complained more, and whole sections of the trip were cut out because there weren't cameras on every street corner just for them.

"Are we almost there chief?" Tyson mumbled after a while.

"According to my calculations we're almost there." The brunette replied as he looked over the map.

"Are you sure you can read that?" Max asked disbelievingly.

"Then again my Russian's a little rusty." Kai grumbled from where he'd been walking – without the map's help – and went back to grab the piece of paper before they could get themselves more lost.

"Hmm...let's see here..."

_Oh quit stalling you've known where the hotel was the whole time_. Anna's teasing voice echoed through his head. He purposefully took longer.

"Hmm....ah-hah...."

"Well, are we getting close?" Rei finally cut in, and the other teen just turned around.

"Well I am just having the time of my life, _hey _does _anybody _know where we're going?!" Tyson groaned as he pushed himself up from where he'd been crouching. Finally deciding to humor him, Kai turned back.

"Just zip it and follow me okay?" He hissed.

"Hah, sounds like they're married." Max teased.

"Yeah, no kidding." While Max and Rei were laughing in the back, Kai was storming on ahead and they hurried to follow.

They walked a while further, passing by shops and plazas that were beautiful and crowded. They saw so many tourist attractions, and even though the walk was a long one it was still a nice one. Apparently Kenny had completely misread the directions entirely and had taken them on the opposite side of Moscow. Kai had tried to steer them on the right path in the first place, but Kenny had insisted and he hadn't complained. It had been far to long since he'd been back, and he was enjoying the views.

Sometimes someone would say _Dobraye utro _ to him and he'd nod towards them, even after being away for so long, occasionally people would recognize him. They even passed by the ISA's headquarters on their trek.

_It's around the next corner_. Anna's voice carried onto the screen and Kai tilted his head slightly.

"I know." He murmured softly.

_Are you ready? _He took a deep breath and turned, and as they walked, they passed by the Abbey for the first time. The dozens of cameras around the outside of the Abbey gave the watchers a great many views to look at the Blade Breakers from.

Outside it there were children practicing, blading quickly and with a practiced percision. They weren't the best of the best yet, and as Kai looked at them he found himself critiquing them like he knew would be the job of the older kids at the Abbey when the guards weren't there. He had intended to just walk past without really stopping, but it was obvious he wasn't going to get his wish, especially when one of the kid's blades popped out of the dish and straight into Tyson's waiting hands.

"Got it!" The Japanese boy announced happily enough. The kids turned to stare straight at the Russian Blade Breaker before one turned and darted off. Kai just sighed, seemingly knowing exactly what was going to happen. "Hey, what's his problem anyway?"

"I don't think they're used to seeing many tourists." Kenny opined.

"Oh yeah?" Tyson pulled his blade out of his pocket in his excitement. "We're not here to steal your blades, we've got our own see!" (Even as he said that he'd already pocketed the other kid's blade). That did nothing to make the other kids ease up, and like clock work, Boris Balkov made his appearance.

"Ah...there you are, you must be the _famous _Blade Breakers." Kai couldn't suppress his gasp upon the sight of the childhood menace that had been the cause of so many nightmares. "Welcome to the World Championships, my name is Boris Balkov, and I am chairman of the tournament. We have heard so much about you, it's nice to finally meet you. If you will, perhaps we can continue our conversation over lunch." They looked at each other, and something on Kai's face was clear that he did not want to have lunch at all with the man in that place. He didn't even want to take a step inside. The others looked rather uncomfortable with it as well, but Tyson's stomach just had to growl and give an answer for them. "That answers that then, lunch is on me, and we had better hurry up before he collapses from hunger so follow me."

"Oh yeah!" Tyson hooted with delight. "I can taste that cheeseburger and fries."

"And I'm gonna try a giant bowl of borcht." Kai rolled his eyes at his teammates excitement. Whenever he'd been at the abbey there'd been no such thing as those types of food...of course, Boris would get it for them. He wanted to impress now, not destroy. That was for later.

They sat at a large table in what was quickly identified as Boris' office. Kai glanced around the walls, looking at everything for the first time in years. There were pictures of various events in beyblading history, and the three teams of the Abbey were presented with delight over the man's desk. He winced though when he saw that there was even a photo of himself there, and a quick glance to Boris meant that he was watching his every move and reaction. Red eyes glowered back at the man who chuckled slightly before removing the photo from view before the others saw it.

_Bastard._

The Blade Breakers all sat down and Boris smiled jovially at them, as he seated himself to Kai's right. He was doing it on purpose too. The whole lunch was going to be like this. An unconscious battle of wills that was going to be between the two of them, forcing them to constantly be on their guard.

"So how long has this place been around Mr. Balkov sir?" Rei asked as he looked around the office.

"Well the Abbey has been here since the 1600s, of course it's been renovated and remodeled for more practical use since then, but the structure was built I believe in....1653. As for the use of the Abbey as a training center, well that began about twenty two years ago, and I've been the director of this place since then."

"That's wicked cool man!" Tyson said excitedly.

"You may have heard of the Hazards? They were the World Champions for four years before the Demolition Boys. They too are graduates of this place. That's them on the left." He motioned towards the photos behind him. "The Maims compete in smaller tournaments around, but they're more like our back up in case of a medical emergency – you never can be too careful." He glanced towards Kai who was avoiding all eye contact with the man. "They're the ones on the right....and your opponents are the Demolition Boys in the middle."

Tyson jumped up from the table and went to run around so he could take a better look at the photo, yet the moment he got on his feet Kai was snapping at him.

"Sit down Tyson, you can look at it later." The Japanese boys jumped slightly in surprise at the deadly tone. Kai wasn't playing around. He meant it, and unlike the time in Robert's mansion, Tyson actually listened to him. His mouth was dropped slightly in surprise, but he'd done as he was told.

Boris was chuckling at the display, and Kai bristled in annoyance. He hadn't done it for the man's amusement. He'd done it because he knew this office, and he knew, just like the watchers, that one wrong step in this Abbey could mean a hole in the ground that lead to a gruesome death.

"Such obedience is admired greatly, you're quite a good Captain to maintain such order of your...men."

"They're my teammates not my soldiers." Kai snapped back, glaring at the man. Boris just chuckled and sipped at his tea, and so lunch went.

Afterward they started on a tour of the more welcoming parts of the Abbey, and Boris gave a discussion of everything as he showed them around. "In my country I personally pick bladers from an early age, they practice constantly and only the very best graduate from our academy."

_Don't lose your head. _Anna was warning softly as Kai's face was struggling to remain neutral. It was the first time he'd actually been back to the Abbey since the fire, and he was struggling with memories and emotions that were close to the surface.

Even the watchers were getting worked up at everything. After everything they'd seen, to hear the bastard talking about it so easily and casually, ignoring the abuse and pain that he'd put those bladers he was talking about...ignoring the deaths he'd caused...it was almost too much. Kai's hand was clutching the bag on his back as he blinked rapidly for a moment. He looked dizzy.

_Kai? Kai are you alright? Nod if you're okay. _It was a small movement but it was there. _You're almost out, just keep yourself together, he can't keep you here right now...you're going to walk right out of those gates in no time...don't worry. _

Meanwhile everyone else was talking to Boris, and they somehow had managed to land themselves into a beybattle with whoever he had chosen. The one thing that Kai had to say that he appreciated about the whole mess was at least he hadn't seen his _brothers _anywhere near there. He didn't know what he would do or say if he came face to face with them in this place....

"You're going down." The brunette Russian boy announced as he pointed straight at Tyson. Boris' pick had been all but threatened into blading them, and now he was all talk and no play. Kai probably knew who he was too. The kid was old enough to have been around when he'd been there.

"Uh..okay...whatever." Tyson clearly wasn't impressed, and from the rigidness of Kai's shoulders it was clear that _he _was starting to pick up on the undertones of this. This wasn't just a battle, it was a test, and damn the Blade Breakers who had not a chance in hell of winning. It almost looked like he'd volunteer to do it, because at least that way he could actually unleash his full strength against them just to make the machines miscalculate their odds.

"You are my enemy and I shall annihilate you in battle."

"Hey, lighten up buddy, it's only a game remember? Sheesh..." The boy turned to look at his team, trying to figure out what they thought of the mouthy kid.

"I don't...think...so." Kai said in an almost sing song voice as he motioned with his head towards the dozens of children that were stacked up in their rows, all staring them down with the intents of making this their first battle in the quest for world domination.

"You're...right, this kid is _bent_!"

"Beyblading may be just a game to you my friend, but to us, it's what we live for!" Alessander said as he stared them down.

"These guys are giving my the heeby-jeebies..." Kenny mumbled as they got ready for the battle.

"Me too Chief..." Max replied as a shudder ran through his frame.

"Come on, I'll blow this guy out of the water in no time, besides, Boris said these guys were in training." Tyson was once more all talk and no show, and anyone could tell by now that it was by sheer luck that he managed to beat Alessander the first time. Kai himself looked like he was praying for it.

"You think so? Never underestimate your competition." He glanced up and accidentally caught Boris' eyes. Flinching he looked away.

"Hey Kai, what's the matter?" The more perceptive member of their team asked.

"Ugh..nothing." It was a clear evasion, and something was most definitely bothering him, but it wasn't followed up on, instead all eyes were heading towards the two beybladers that were going to get ready to fight.

"You see? My blade is designed with many layers each one designed to give me more rotation...the greater the rotation the more the odds grow in my favor!" Kai hissed low under his breath at the kid's snooty tone, but with it came a sigh of relief. If that was all the kid's launcher had been designed for then Tyson had a half way decent chance at winning. Which meant one thing, and every one of the watchers knew it.

Alessander wasn't fighting Tyson because he was supposed to win. He was fighting because he'd most likely done something wrong...and he was slated to lose and die for it.

But that wasn't what they were there for, they were there to win, and Kai wasn't about to make Boris come out on top because as much as it was sad that Alessander wasn't going to make it...there were four boys who he knew personally that he needed to do this for. So when it looked like Tyson was in over his head – again – Kai stepped in and gave him the advice he needed.

"Tyson, listen to me, the regional tournament, and that battle between me and Max-"

"Yeah?" The boy asked eagerly.

"That's it! That's where I made Draciel do a reverse spin. It was awesome, remember? I took control of the battle by making my blade's counter rotation to stop the opponent's blade from spinning. It was sweet!" Max bragged excitedly.

"It's so simple! Why didn't I think of that?" Kenny lamented. "But wait a minute, in that battle, Max's Draciel was on the bottom..." Kai rolled his eyes and it looked like he was struggling to not slap himself in the forehead.

"What do I do?" Tyson mumbled, worried. "Uhh...uhh..._Dragoon attack_!!!!!!! It's time to teach the little creep a lesson and I guarantee he won't forget it either." In a matter of seconds Dragoon had landed clear on top of the other blade and struck it, digging it into the ground and then hopping off Tyson slammed the blade awkwardly out of the dish.

Kai let out a breath of fresh air and only now at the end of all things did the others understand what he'd been trying to say before he'd been cut off. He wasn't saying to do a counter spin – something only Max's blade seemed to be able to do, he was saying that if he landed on Alessander's blade he could pick up enough speed where he wasn't at a disadvantage. From there if he attacked he could drive the other blade into the ground where it would start _losing _speed just enough to make it wobble so it could be knocked out.

Boris though...instead of being disappointed or anything of the like, he simple chuckled low, staring at the blade for a while. That was perhaps the most dangerous thing he could do. Rather then be angry and predictable he was constantly in a constant state of calm, making him dangerous because no one could say what he was about to do.

"Nicely done Tyson, I must say I was quite impressed, especially with your finish." He glanced towards Kai who glowered at him. As the others were giving their congratulations, Kai's eyes were on the kid. He was soaking him up, plastering his fear struck face in his memory for the future. "And Alessander...there are consequences to be paid for your failure." The boy fell to the ground, shaking. He knew as well as the watchers and Kai just what was about to happen. "I didn't realize that you were inadequate, therefore _you _are a waste of my time and energy."

"No! You can't desert me, I'll do anything to stay, anything!" The kid was crying and everyone was staring in shock at the sight.

"Unhand me boy, your time has come." He snapped his fingers and Kai's body went rigid as he saw those fateful doors open.

"Oh no...this can't be happening!" Two guards appeared, walking stonily forwards as they looked down upon the kid that was going to be taken away. Kai's mouth dropped open, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

_They'll take him away, put him in the safe house. He'll be fine._ The two guards were people from the ISA. He recognized them, as did some of the watchers. Anna's voice alone was confirmation. Alessander was going to be alright...he was saved.

"Please don't do this to me, _please _if you promise to let me stay I promise I'll never lose again never!" The boy didn't know that though. He thought he was going to the pit with all the rest.

"Stop! This is completely ridiculous, don't you understand that beyblading is a game, and should be treated like one? You're taking it too seriously!" Rei shouted as he stared at the kid's face.

"Hey yeah, would you give the kid a break?" Tyson added on. A look of hope flashed across the child's face, but it was squashed in a moment.

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm being very cruel. It's you who do not understand what beyblading means to those who reside in my country." Boris said simply enough as he ignored the boy's wailing from behind him as he was dragged away, his screams for help echoed across the hall. He knew the horror stories, and he knew what was going to happen. He screamed and screamed and even Kai couldn't keep himself completely passive at the display. "Well...that was quite the dramatic expedition wasn't it? Now I believe it is time that you all _take your leave_." Boris said, his voice dropping from the friendly tone he'd been using to the one he reserved particularly for problem students.

"But what's going to happen to that kid huh?" Tyson asked as he clenched his fists.

"Forget it." Kai snapped back, as he glared at him. "Pretend like it never happened."

"Are you nuts Kai?! I could never do that in a million years!" Tyson was shouting now, his anger pallable.

"It's better to accept what's happened and move on...isn't that so Kai?" Boris sneered as he looked at the teen. He was laughing softly under his breath, believing he'd won at long last. Kai just stared back unflinchingly for a few moments before he growled low under his breath and turned to walk away. He was leaving before this got out of hand. He was not going to stay here tonight...he had other things to do and get ready for, and this wasn't one of them.

The screen came back as later on the same night, Kai was walking into his Grandfather's mansion, a thing of coffee or something in his hand as he grumbled quietly under his breath. He looked pissed off and annoyed the time stamp said that it was past midnight. Anna was on his heels her laptop case hanging off one shoulder, an inappropriately large drink in one hand that declared _Burger King _on the side with it's matching bag in the other hand. She was laughing heartily despite his infuriated look.

"You're blushing!" She declared.

"Shut your trap." He hissed at her as he threw his coat on the rack.

"Oh I can't wait to tell Luka-"

"You do it and I'll kill you."

"Oh I'm sure." She was cackling like mad. "Why is it that you always attract the strangest people around you? I mean, first your teammates, then this...girl!"

"You bring..._it _up again and I'm going to lock you out." He groaned.

"Come on Kai, tell me...what did _she_ say again...how..._charmed _she was to meet a _man _such as yourself."

"That...that _girl _was no girl and you know it for a fact so you're going to drop it before I give you an anatomy lesson!"

"Ah, Kai, vous êtes à la maison!" _Oh, Kai, you're home! _He turned so fast it looked like his head would fly off his shoulders. His mouth dropped as he stared at a young girl in front of him. Lovely as any model and as dainty as a flower she was positively glowing as she caught sight of him.

Blonde hair that reached midway down her back, and dazzling blue eyes she was gorgeous in every sense of the word. The years had treated her well, and while she was a beautiful child in that news article they'd pulled up, now she was full grown and very much a woman. She was wearing expensive fur boots and dark stockings, a simple dress over top that. Her hair was tied back with a bow and Anna giggled behind his back over the rather inappropriate conversation they'd been having when they walked in the door.

"Adeline-ce que tu fais ici?" _Adeline- what are you doing here?_ He gasped out as she approached him. He took her hand fluidly in his when she grew near and kissed it politely. Anna curtsied behind him (a rather awkward affair since she was still holding her drink and burger-bag.

"N'êtes-vous pas heureux de me voir?" _Are you not happy to see me? _Her smile had vanished and it looked like she was deeply considering leaving if she was being an imposition but he was shaking his head quickly enough. He groaned slightly though when he looked down at himself. Still in the clothes he'd been traipsing around the world in training for hours each day in, he probably smelt bad and for the first time the watchers could see him looking terribly self conscious about it too.

"Oui, oui je ne pense pas que je ne suis pas, c'est juste que ... Je ne m'attendais pas à vous." _Yes, yes I am...it's just that I wasn't expecting to see you. _

"Kai my boy is that you?" He looked up the stairs where his Grandfather was looking down at him expectantly.

"Oui grand-père ..." He answered, but then catching himself he translated. "Yes grandfather."

"Well you certainly have had our guest waiting for quite some time, please, join us upstairs if you will." Kai translated for the girl's benefit but she smiled prettily at him.

"There's no need Kai." Her Russian was heavy and accented, but it was a clear attempt on her part. He smiled at her gratefully (although there was a brief grimace when he realized that she could know detect exactly what Anna and he had been talking about), going between the two languages clearly not his favorite past time.

"I don't mean to be rude Adeline, but...there is some business that I must take care of and I would very much appreciate it if you wouldn't mind-"

"Nonsense my dear boy, bring the lovely lady up with you. She's been quite informed on the current situation, and is in fact assisting on some...personal matters."

"Quoi?" He blinked trying to understand.

"France has agreed to help in any way they can in this dealing with the Abbey. Mon père has sent me with le président de la permission as an ambassador. I also am...how you say...responsible for some of the children..." It was broken with sparse French here and then but it was more or less understandable. Especially the insinuation at the end. The long lost mystery of where the three kids of the Abbey that had been taken out were hiding away. Kai couldn't help but just blink at that. His eyes traveled to the drink in his hand before he turned towards Anna who was just as silent as he was.

"I need something to drink. Anything. I don't care what. Maybe a sedative or two while your at it-" She rolled her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Now Kai-" Voltaire's scolding was interrupted by the blonde's.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself _Sacha._ Thank you very much."

"I can see that, _Princesse_._" _The boy growled back, not enjoying hearing the sound of his name invoked, and she frowned at the title. "None of that explains why on earth you're here _now_."

"She's here because it's not safe for her anywhere else brother, and do you mind? Some of us were actually trying to work." Luka in all his glory was standing there now, coming to a stop beside his grandfather's side. His glasses were on and he looked exhausted, his eyes and posture showing just how tired he was. He was slouching and he looked miserable.

"Luka?"

"Nice to see you too Sacha-"

"Stop it the both of you." He snapped. "I don't remember ever giving either of you permission."

"I don't recall requesting your permission." Adeline mused while Tala replied with a similar: "I don't remember ever wanting your permission."

"The both of you are going to drive me to my grave. What on earth are you doing here Luka? Shouldn't you be in the Abbey?"

"It's my bimonthly meeting." He shrugged.

"Since when did bimonthly monthly meetings continue until twelve at night?"

"Since I told Boris I was apart of the ISA and added on all the time that I was going to be at Headquarters to the time I already had to spend here. I'm spending the night if you must know – the others are here too. We're _trying _to get you up the stairs, and yet you're continuing to be a complete nuisance. So would you stop doing whatever overprotective macho dance you need to do to make Adeline feel like she needs to leave and come up these stairs before I come down them and knock some sense into you because the poor girl wont do it herself?" Kai's mouth dropped. "I've had a rather bad few weeks and I'd like it if you could just do something without arguing." The last line was said quietly, and instantly the younger male's eyes narrowed slightly. He looked pointedly at his brother who shook his head ever so slightly.

"What's going on?" He asked as he slowly, Tala sighed and opened his mouth. There was a loud bang down the hall and he looked up with a wince on his features. Bryan was storming down the hall, and he looked absolutely irate. He glanced down and saw the silver haired teen.

"So that's what you're here for. Hiwatari." The Air wielder snapped to Tala who raised a hand to his head as though to ward off a headache.

"Bry." The teen in question greeted as he looked at him for the first time in months.

"What the fuck took you so long you fag?" Red eyes narrowed instantly.

"Watch your mouth around the Lady." He growled, voice low. The girl had jumped at the harsh words, one hand going to her mouth.

"Why? Why the fuck should I? She's older then I am, I think she can deal with it the little priss."

"Bryan knock it off." Tala mumbled wearily as he rubbed the pressure points on his temple a bit harder.

"Don't you tell me what to do _Captain_." He went to punch the red head but the boy side stepped it and snapped for the other to stop it once again.

"Sacré bleu..." Adeline glanced at Kai, her eyes wide in shock and horror.

"Adeline, aller à la cuisine avec Anya." Kai murmured without looking at her, he was focused entirely on the scene before him. His weariness had apparently faded away because he was fully focused and awake as he stared at the fight that was starting to brew between the two.

"Kai?" She murmured.

"Anya, take her to the kitchen." The faux blonde had been standing in the shadows watching quietly, but she nodded and moved towards the girl who she quietly motioned to follow her. With the girls out of the way and the fight quickly starting to grow out of control, Kai started taking the stairs three at a time. Voltaire knew better then to get in the way of the blows that Bryan was sending towards the redhead, and just let Kai roughly grab Bryan from the back and throw him to the floor.

"Fuck you Kai!" Bryan shouted hatefully as he glared up at the younger teen.

"Get yourself together what the hell is wrong with you. I don't give a shit if you want to talk like a fucking beggar when you're alone, but don't you dare talk like that in front of those girls – what's the matter with you?"

"Boris's _rage therapy_ finally stated working after Mik-" With an anguished yell Bryan tackled the redhead to the ground who landed with a thud. It didn't last long though. Moments later he had twisted and punched the other in the solar plexus just enough to have him gasping for breath on the ground.

"Well it's nice to see you too Bry-Bry, how's that feel?" Kai asked sardonically. "Now stay down there for a minute and calm yourself." Looking up at Tala he sighed. "How's everyone else?"

"Varying stages of grief and anger. Spencer had a bit of an accident not too long ago too."

"What happened?" He asked wearily.

"Hit-and-run with a kid...it was a total accident, but hey, go figure...that's our luck right?" Tala muttered. Bryan was back on his feet again and he took a swing at the redhead and both brothers knocked him back to the ground.

"I'll let you know when you can come back up." Kai intoned before he turned and looked at Tala once more."What about that kid? Alessander?"

"Oh he's here too, welcome to the greatest hoj-poj in the history of hoj-pojes."

"Pojes?"

"It's practically one in the morning, _yes _pojes. Adeline showed up around noon, Michaels and Alessander showed up around four, I made an appearance at the ISA from five to ten, and then these losers have been here all day. Spence is busy trying to calm Alessander down upstairs then he's going to be sent to Italy for the week because the property isn't done yet up here...and can I just say that your team has been giving me a headache all day?"

"You haven't even met them yet and they're already giving you a headache?"

"Well someone's been playing with your cell phone and I've been getting crank calls for the past four hours, and if you tell me it was you I swear I'll drop you right next to that nuisance."

"I'm going to kill Tyson..."

The watchers turned to glare at Tyson who blushed furiously, proclaiming "It was just a joke, I didn't know who it was!" over and over again.

"It's fine, it's fine, but if I have to here 'this is good burger home of the good burger can I take your order?' One more time I'm going to kill him myself. Meanwhile the BDS is perfectly functional, thank you very much. All ready to go for taking over the world and the like."

"Excellent." Bryan had propped himself up on the wall and was blinking rapidly, trying to figure out what was going on. "You gonna attack us again?" Kai asked him steadily enough. The boy looked up at him with a frown and shook his head, and together he and Tala helped Bryan up to his feet. "You look like hell Kutznetsov."

"Shut up." The boy mumbled. "How the fuck did I end up on the floor?" He asked as he rubbed his chest slightly with a wince.

"Same reason your torso'll be covered in bruises tomorrow. You gonna act like a right ol' gent so I can call the girls back? We know how pissy red-heads get if we don't let them see their lady loves in seven months." Tala swatted at him but he ducked it.

"Anya's here?" He asked blankly, confusion etched on his face.

"Yeah, she's here, and Adeline – who you made an ass out of yourself in front of. No more dinner party invites for you in the future."

"Oh." Bryan actually looked rather confused about the whole situation. He didn't seem to understand just what was going on, and Kai glanced to Tala for help, but the older teen just shook his hand. _Forget it. Act like it never happened...  
_

Voltaire coughed and the three boys looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow at them and the two younger boys apologized quickly for the trouble while Bryan blinked on in confusion. He honestly didn't seem to remember what it was they were going on about.

"Boys, there's less then a week of this left...I would very much appreciate it if you took better care of yourselves during that time...I do not want to see you getting hurt anymore after this...there is only so much an old man can bear."

The boys looked terribly chastened. Bryan looked to the ground, he was pained terribly. He hadn't meant to be a burden, and he hadn't meant to wear down on the poor man's soul. That man had born witness to all his loved ones go through hell every day of their lives and condone it because of this investigation...and the man didn't look like he could watch it any longer.

"Hey Grandfather...when this is all over...I want a corvette." Kai said quietly he looked towards the man. Voltaire raised an eyebrow, his mouth opening slightly – dumbfounded. In a way it was Kai's way of saying he'd do his best.

"When we're all through with this...I'll get you two..."

"Well I want a slice of pizza from Italy. You all do know what you're missing." Tala snickered.

"Party in Livorno on me then." The man laughed as he shook his head.

"Hey, I want a ride in that thing when you get it Kai." Bryan said with a grin.

"You got it buddy."

"Well I want to get out of the kitchen so if you boys are done pummeling can we get this show on the road?" Anna yelled from downstairs. The four chuckled and Tala leaned over towards the staircase.

"Come on up Ladies." He said charmingly, and the two moved out from the room towards them. Anna smiled up at the redhead who grinned back. She quickly skipped the stairs and he gathered her up in a bone crushing hug. "Ciao amore mio." She sighed as she hugged him back and Kai took Adeline's hand like a proper gentleman before turning and starting to walk towards his grandfather's office where Spencer, Ian, and Alessander were waiting for them.

"Wait up Luka....there's something I want to ask you about." Kai called out when the others had already started to head down the hall. The older teen frowned and looked over to Anna.

"Hey, take Adeline with you hmm?" He asked softly as he started back towards his friend. "Tell them we'll catch up in a minute."

Everyone continued on without them, and the two sat on the top step for a minute, their backs to the camera as they sat in silence. Kai clearly had something on his mind, and Tala knew better then to ask him about it before he was ready, and so they were there for quite some time while the brusque teen was trying to gather his thoughts.

"I didn't...I don't...really remember...that place." Tala's head turned as he looked at his brother's face. His eyes were sharp as he clearly was latching on to every word.

"What do you mean?"

"Back then...after the fire I didn't remember it at all...and in all honesty I don't remember much about it now either."

"You're kidding right?" The redhead's mouth dropped, but Kai remained passive.

"No...this whole time...I didn't even remember what it really looked like...Anna took care of the cameras and the details...and I haven't seen it really since I left...and for a minute there, when I saw it again...I couldn't remember it at all...all I could remember was that was where _the demolition boys trained_." He looked up to the other, worry plastered on his face. Tala looked like he was stunned. He didn't know what to say. "And when I saw..._him_...I couldn't remember what had happened to me – only that he scared me. I could barely move half the time...and he kept _looking _at me."

"Sacha, I need you to tell me one thing. Do you, remember _anything _about what happened in that Abbey?" The teen hesitated...and shook his head. He hadn't even corrected the name.

"In all honesty, I barely remember our parents, the crash, the fire, everything everyone talks about or says I barely can recall."

"You've been lying for the past six years?" The red head hissed lividly. Kai winced.

"For a lot of it...I remembered Black Dranzer, that wasn't a lie. When I told you about mother...that wasn't a lie either. I shouldn't have told you that though in all honesty, I hurt you-"

"I got over it." He snapped back.

"I know you did, but I still shouldn't have said it. I probably wouldn't have if I had remembered how close you were with them."

"Damn it Kai why the hell did you get involved then? You didn't remember me, you didn't remember them, the only person you seemed to remember was Voltaire-"

"No actually...I didn't."

"What was the point?!" Tala shot to his feet, his eyes glaring down at his brother. "If you can't even fucking recall one God-damn memory from that place that someone hasn't told you about, then what the hell was the point of all of this?!"

"_I _couldn't remember you, but...I didn't want you to be hurt. I knew we were close...and I knew that we were all friends. I memorized names and picked up on actions and the like, that's not the point _now _though. The point _now_, is that I'm starting to remember." Blue eyes softened slightly.

"How much?"

"I remember the three." He spoke quietly, one hand going unconsciously to his shoulder where a long scar from it to his hip began underneath his clothes. "I remember being scared of that man...for the first time my mind connected him to the past...the few times I'd seen him before I'd just never paid much attention to him...but when he was there..."

"Kai, you can't do this. Tell Michaels you're out, we'll get Black Danzer another way – I'll blade her. You can't go in there if you're going to be a mental wreck. You're not going to be able to concentrate."

"You know as well as I do that I'm not going to do that..."

"I can't keep you safe in there. You know what's going to happen. You're probably going to go on the three again, you're probably going to have experiments done...you're going to live that hell once more for as long as you're with us. You _know _that right? You may think you're above it all now, but when those memories come back full force you're not going to be able to keep your head on straight. If you can barely stand next to the man without flinching, how the hell are you going to lie to the man?"

"I don't know...but I'll do it...just..."

"Don't ask me to be there for you Kai. You know I won't be able to half the time...I'll try – just like how everyone else will try – but you know that sometimes you're going to be alone, and your memories are going to hit you, and hit you hard." Tala was calm, but it was clear that he didn't want to be. He was upset, and he was struggling to keep himself calm for his brother's sake.

"I'll be fine...I'm just...warning you...I'm going to be confused..."

"I know you will be...and...I'll try to be there."

But they both knew, that the chances of him being there for him, were nil. Boris would make sure of it, and there just wasn't enough time.


	27. Fading Away

**Windstar: **So I finally updated on time, once again, apologies on how bad I've been doing with updates, but college is hard! I have a warning for you all, a great deal of this chapter is flashbacks and references to the past. It is going to be bloody and violent. I believe it is the last truly violent chapter this story has.

This chapter is also the longest so far, at over twenty one pages it's just about twelve thousand words long. There's only four more chapters to go in this!

Next monday I think I'll be posting another chapter of The Pulse. If you haven't read or reviewed it yet, please feel free to go over any time. Once again, it covers the time that Tala and Anna were not in this story.

A great thanks to all of my reviewers, same disclaimer as usual. Thank you!

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

Sometime in the night, Kai went back to the hotel and got in his bed, because Rei confirmed that he had been there in the morning. According to Rei, he woke up screaming, and gasping for breath the next morning. The watchers could believe it too...he had enough experiences from that Abbey to be able to have one hell of a nightmare if his subconscious decided to do it.

As the movie rolled, they soon realized, that everything was going to be much harder to watch. When the Demolition Boys were scolded or harmed...it was easier, easier because they hadn't ever been truly close with them. It was still hard, but it was easier...even when Kai had been a child, when his hair was long and he was a stubborn little mite, it was easier because he didn't look all like he did now.

Now though...now Kai was full grown and exactly as he had been the last time they saw him. Anything that happened to him now was going to be a dagger in their hearts because they knew him. They talked and spoke to him, and they knew his pains and troubles. They knew this was going to be hard, and watching him go through..._whatever _they put him through was going to be a bit...rough.

So when the cameras in the Abbey picked up on guards as they walked through the halls, it wasn't all that hard to spot his blue face paint that he hardly ever took off. Odd how even after he had lost all his memories...he still had maintained that strange habit of the face paint – even if he didn't remember what the marks stood for anymore.

Two real guards were walking towards him, but by now he had grown up tall enough to meet them in the eye. He hesitated, and when he saw them start to bow, he did too. The watchers held their breath the whole while, the Blade Breakers knowing that somewhere in this time frame Kai was going to decide that he was going to stay.

He entered the room where Tyson and Alessander had been beybattleing, and let out a sigh of relief. Clearly he hadn't made that decision just yet and he was only there to collect Black Dranzer...if he even knew where it was.

"That was close..." He murmured softly. "So far...so good." He shrugged out of the costume, rubbing his bare arms self consciously. He couldn't move as well as he could out of the outfit and he wanted out. His red eyes glanced around the room slightly. "Not exactly a friendly place...but...why does it feel so familiar."

Essentially walking blind in the dark he started towards the door that Alessander had originally been dragged through, the watchers feeling themselves tense as they awaited whatever fate was going to come crashing down around the amnesiac. He was breathing slightly heavy, eyes staring through to a tunnel on the wall. A tunnel that looked eerily like the same tunnels that would open up underneath the students and swallow them whole.

Steeling himself for whatever was to come, Kai hurried forwards and jumped through, sliding down the tunnel and disappearing from the camera's view. Everyone stared, their eyes wide with horror. They couldn't believe he'd just willingly jumped through that hole...he'd be trapped down there! He'd be trapped and he'd never be able to get out, and then -

No. They knew what was going to happen. Somehow or other he'd be fine. He was going to be in the tournament, and they knew that he was going to make it out. Still, they couldn't help but wait on baited breath as their very skin seemed to come alive in their fear.

The next camera picked up him landing just outside of the data center that he'd saved Tala from all those years ago. He stared at it with wide eyes, his fingers shaking at his side as he ducked behind a wall to look at it some more. Scientists and guards were talking and comparing data and notes, and he was all but shaking in his attempt to keep calm.

Then at once he was moving, running as fast as he could as he got away from that place. His eyes were wild as he tried to keep focused. He was on a mission...a mission to get Black Dranzer, and he needed to do that. He needed to get it for the ISA. He needed to get it before Tala risked his own life to do it – and Mikhail's actions showed all what the result of betraying the Abbey was...And yet as the screen moved, the watchers could see the camera room in the Abbey...and more importantly – Boris Balkov who was watching Kai's every move as he ran through the maze.

Kai broke his run after a few minutes, stopping for a breath of air before continuing on in a determined walk. He was looking at familiar sights, passing by doors and passageways, going through tunnels and walking past so many familiar places. He was looking at everything with a practiced eye – keeping track of everything around him.

Then he came to a door...a door that so many years ago he had walked through and seen Luka's wolf transform into it's bit. Wolborg...yet his mind didn't seem to recall the event. It didn't seem to remember it at all. Instead it led him to the door, and he stared through it quietly. He physically recoiled, a bead of sweat falling down his forehead. "Oh my gosh...all of these animals are alive...and their sacred spirits are being syphoned out of them...no...they can't...." He looked like he was going to start hyperventilating, he was rigid with shock.

_Tala walked to the last tank in the room...Kai hurried to his side, and looked at him as though he were crazy... Still, despite the other child telling him to stop, the redhead continued towards the tank. He looked thunder-stuck...his whole body was shaking as though he was witnessing something he hadn't seen in a long time. The animal in the tank moved ever so slightly and looked at him, their eyes meeting. _

_Yet as the moments passed, the animal seemed to start growing more and more aware to just who the child before it was and it moved despite the sedatives it'd clearly been given. Voltaire spun about when Tala let out a terrible howling cry...Kai was staring in shock at the boy he'd come to know as a brother.  
_

"_Boris what on earth is going on!?" Voltaire hissed-_

"_That would be the boy's wolf friend that we found him with." The man said simply, motioning towards the wolf. Kai spun back and stared at him in horror before angrily putting Dranzer in its launcher and aiming it at the tank his brother was screaming at._

_The animal slowly stopped moving, and the tank just grew in light. Boris roughly wrenched the blade from Kai's hands and shoved the boy towards his grandfather as he moved to the tank to investigate what was happening. He didn't have a chance to check his scanners; Tala had done what Kai had been planning on. He'd stepped back and launched his blade straight at the contraption, breaking it and shattering the glass. _

_Fluids went everywhere, and a blinding light filled the room. Everything went silent and when the light faded, all that was left was the body of the white wolf lying motionlessly on the bottom of its tank, and Tala's spinning blade. The boy had somehow managed to pull himself up onto the pedestal and was nuzzling his head into the beast's shoulder, trying to wake it up. His hands stroked the wolf's fur, and his cheek pressed down onto the creature's muzzle, yet no matter what he did…the wolf was no more. It was gone. _

_Choking sobs echoed from the boy's mouth as he hugged the animal to him, he wasn't strong enough to pick it up, but he could clutch it. It was heartbreaking to watch, and Kai himself appeared to have started to shed some tears. Voltaire stepped forward and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder before spinning to snap to Boris._

"_I want this wolf buried immediately. No experiments on its body, no autopsy, nothing. Lay her to rest in the Abbey's cemetery. Do you understand?!" He snapped. Boris nodded, but his attention was on Tala's blade that had hopped up next to the boy. The child glanced down at it, and it glowed a silvery white. All eyes stared at the blade as one lone noise echoed from it. _

_A wolf's howl. _

_Tala reached out, his small hands touching the blade and stopping its spin. On the once blank bitchip there was now the stalking form of a proud white wolf. The spirit of Waw-oo that Boris had been attempting to create all along. The boy looked up, trying to understand what was happening, but Kai was the one who managed to explain it._

"_Waw-oo became a bitbeast like Dranzer?!" he rushed forward and leaned over the blade, staring at it in awe. He touched the chip in wonder, and yelped when a chilling breeze shot over his hand and nipped at it viciously. Tala giggled through his tears, which were slowly drying on his face. _

"_Serves you right." He said simply. Kai glared, clearly not finding it as amusing as when Tala got burnt by Dranzer. _

"_Amazing…" Voltaire murmured as he looked at the glowing blade. He met Boris' eyes._

"_Is this the fruits of your research?" He needed to make sure._

"_Yes sir. We can now create our own bitbeasts." The man said proudly. Voltaire nodded and pet Tala's hair._

"_You see little one? Now your lady wolf can be with you forever." The boy smiled and nodded. He liked that plan._

Kai shook himself, looking towards the left he frowned heavily. He rubbed his arms again, struggling to keep himself focused even as it became increasingly clear that the memories that he'd long kept dormant were surfacing faster and faster in his mind. While the watchers couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking about – after all they were watching on a surveillance tape, not a movie that was gifted with the omnipotence of the film maker at hand, with each door he passed, they themselves could recall moments where Kai had spent behind that door. They themselves could recall Wolborg's creation. They themselves could recall just what the chanting of the dozens of children saying "Victory is life, defeat to our enemies." was in the teen's past. So as he stared at all those children, his heart most likely pounding heavily in his chest, they recalled his own moments in that fractured room.

"_Repeat after me! Victory is life, defeat to our enemies! Then pull your ripcords!" The boys exchanged glances and Kai tried to see if the redhead understood what he was being asked, but the child simply nodded and they did as they were told. Their words were in baby babble but they came out close enough to what they were being instructed to do, and the cords slid in and out in perfect succession. _

_They should of; they had been practicing all day apparently. Twelve other boys were in the room. They were all different shapes and sizes and most of them different ages. Luka and Kai were clearly the youngest of them all. They stood out because of their small statures and they were easily over powered by the older boys when they said their words. _

"_Vic-ty is live, de-feats ta our nenemies." They intoned, but the sly smiles they kept sending to each other clearly showed that they thought this was silly. Attention wavering, Luka missed the next cord. His eyes were looking up and up and up. The ceiling just seemingly getting higher and higher until-_

"_EYES FORWARD YOU INSUFFERABLE MAGGOT!" He yelped when a hand caught the backside of his head, and he went forward onto all fours. Kai whipped around and kicked the attacker straight in the shin. The man yelped and gripped the boy roughly by his neck. Luka looked up at all the chaos, the other boys were to stunned to move, and watched as the guard started to land blows on Kai's head in anger_

_Furious the redhead shot at the man, sinking his teeth savagely into the attacker's hand and the man shouted in surprise, waving his hand (and therefore Luka) about like it was possessed. _

"_Don you hurt 'im!" Kai shouted and kicked at the man once more, now being accosted by two toddlers the guard was at a loss, he slammed them together, and instantly the two let go. Kai grabbed Luka's hand and they both shot out of the room faster then anyone thought possible. _

"_GET THOSE TWO AND BRING THEM TO ME!" The guard hissed furiously, trying to mop up the blood that was slowly seeping from the wound where Luka had bit him with his baby teeth. _

_It was inevitable that they'd be caught. No toddler would ever be able to out run an adult let alone a swarm of them. They were brought back roughly and painfully to the training center where they were swiftly turned over the guard's knee and spanked harder and harder. Both were crying loudly, screaming with each strike, they were yowling so loudly that one actually tried to cover Luka's mouth to make him shut up, but the boy bit the hand that dared to touch him once more and they never tried it again. _

"_God damn cannibal!" Kai just glared and pulled his shivering roommate to him, angry and hurting and not understanding what he did wrong. They both were sent to their cell without any supper that night. They stayed there for the rest of the next day with nothing to eat or drink, and it was only on the third day did they even get a little bit of water for them to share between the both of them. This continued on and on until at the end of the week they were roughly dragged from their cell and put back into the training room._

"_Repeat after me! Victory is life, defeat to our enemies! Then pull your ripcords!" The guard shouted. This time, they did as they were told and they didn't even bother trying to look away from their task. They clearly had learned their lesson. _

The more Kai stared into the room the more his body started to shake. His hands were all but vibrating and surprisingly not one person looked up to see him there. Everyone just kept their eyes forwards and kept on chanting. A shiver ran down his spine and it seemed to be all in his power to not slump against the wall. He looked drained as he stared at everything, his mind clearly picking up on the broken memories that swirled around him. He may not have gone into the Abbey with a clear idea on what it was like, but to actually see it "first hand" was starting to spark things in his mind and he looked so weary and tired of everything.

"_Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!" Pull the ripcord, put it back in. Spin the invisible blade. Imagine it slicing and cutting down the opponent flawlessly. "Victory is life, defeat to our enemies!" Repeat process. That was the way of the Abbey. _

One kid fell to his knees, exhaustion on his face as he gasped for breath. Kai physically flinched at the sight of it. The guards marched forwards pulling the ones who couldn't handle it out of the room. They didn't care, they didn't even bother to keep their eyes focused on the looks of fear on their faces. The only consolation that the Teams of the World had was that Michaels' sting was enabling all those children who would have died, to simply be relocated to a secure location.

Kai was moving again, his eyes taking in the world around him, his mouth dropped the whole while as he stared in dumb awe at everything. The children on the bicycles who were peddling with all their might, EKG monitors hooked up to watch their hearts race with their bikes. Kids who were pushing up weights they shouldn't be able to lift were huffing and puffing as the guards simply increased the amount. He could recall his own time in their shoes now, the proof written on his face. He looked sick to his stomach as he physically wrenched himself from each and every sight, his trek into the Abbey getting longer and longer as he started to look more and more queasy.

"He is the enemy...you must crush him!" One guard hissed into a child's ear as the brunette boy with glasses stared at someone who could very well have been a friend of his...the guards wouldn't care.

"Channel your energy into your beyblade, you must defeat him!" The other guard ordained as he forced the too young blader to strike out against his opponent. Kai looked like he was about ready to start knocking heads. He was clenching his fists, his mind clearly remembering now all the pains he'd gone through in that very room. He was appearing as though he was going to stop everything, screw the mission, and just beat the shit out of the first person he saw. They probably deserved it too.

He tore himself away from it though, and he started digging deeper into the Abbey, each step unsteady as he slowly started to crumble against one of the walls. His rested his back against it, closing his eyes as if he was trying to hold back tears that were fighting to get out. He looked so miserable and in such an amount of pain that the watchers actually felt their hearts go out to him.

From his revelation the night before he honestly had no idea what was going to happen when he walked into that Abbey. He had never truly regained his memories. A few here and there, sure, and a few snippets to keep people at bay, but he never recalled the gritty details.

Right now his head was filling with so much information that it had lost, recalling it on it's own and starting to shove it into his conscious, he must have felt as though he were reliving it with every step he took. One of his hands touched his shirt where just under his fingers would be a long scar he had received on one such occasion on the three.

"Gotta get out of here...can't be here any more..." He murmured softly as his head seemed to spin. He pushed himself up from the wall and started to back up, body shivering violently. He was shaking with such fear for the world around him, he was hardly paying attention. So when he backed straight into Boris, he whipped around, eyes widening as he stared at the man. He was actually mewling, gasping as he stared at the man, his body shaking so hard he might have been seizing.

"Did I frighten you? Young Kai? You look like you've seen a ghost." His mouth fell open as he tried to respond, but no words came out. He just garbled some letters as he tried to figure out what to say.

"I-I...uh..." He might have cried he looked so tortured.

"Well Kai..." The man tore off his hat and shoved his modified viz goggles onto his face as he smiled menacingly at the teen. "Remember now!?" He let out a strangled shout of surprise as his knees finally gave out.

"B-Boris..." He crashed onto the ground, eyes hardly seeing anything as he stared up at the man. "I grew up...in this Abbey..." He had always known that from what he'd picked up on from his friends and brother, but he had never felt it with such a stabbing feeling straight in his heart. He never remembered it until that moment when he felt as though his whole world had plummeted into darkness.

"Haha! Welcome back!" The man chortled as he looked at the terrified child in front of him. "So glad you remember me, you always were a bright child, and now young Kai you have some important decisions to make." Kai's eyes narrowed slightly as he shoved himself to his feet, clearly pissed off now despite the fear in his heart that was quaking every word he said – he wouldn't be anybody's play thing. "About your future." The man added when he hadn't said anything.

"Like _what_?" He growled as he glared at him.

"Like returning to the team that made you, the team that you're now destined lead Kai." The man was getting closer, reaching out to touch Kai's face. Tyson started shouting at the screen, yelling at the man for going anywhere near his Captain who still looked slightly out of it. "Face your future." The hand kept creeping forwards, but it looked like Kai didn't want, or couldn't handle, him touching him any time soon. He slapped the hand back, his feet instinctively falling into a fighting stance.

"No!" Perhaps it was a knee-jerk reaction because he really was supposed to say yes, but he couldn't help it, and no one could blame him. Boris was getting more and more freakish as the moments dragged on.

"You must!" The man shot back desperately, the only time they'd ever seen such an emotion on his face.

"Get this straight Boris, you may think you _know _me, but I barely remember you or this rotten Abbey. No goofball in goggles is going to tell _me _what to do alright?"

("Alright! Go Kai!" Tyson cheered excitedly.

"You do know he stays with them anyway right Tyson?" Rei asked as he leered over towards him, but the Japanese boy was too involved in the movie to care. )

"I know I grew up here, but I know something else too...I couldn't care less about this place – or about you. Coming here out of curiosity was a waste of time." And just like that Kai whipped around and ran full speed in the opposite direction. Bold words or not, he knew better then to stay anywhere near that man and because of that he was taking the first exit he got and running like hell.

"Was it now....? Keep running my young apprentice." Boris murmured as he stared at the boy's retreating back. Kai ran through the Abbey, his breath coming in short bursts as he ran as fast as he could. He passed through the dungeons, he passed through another training center and the residence halls, he passed the bathrooms and the stairs to the rooftop access, and then he came to a four way split. A split moment of indecision, and then he was off again, cutting to the right.

"Don't be hasty Kai." Boris' voice cut in, and he stopped short as he looked around, clearly hearing it on the loud speaker. "We're more then just a team now, we're a company. Bio-Volt corporation is more powerful then you imagine."

"Bio..." Kai murmured as he tried to but two and two together.

"Volt. Bio-Volt is an acronym for 'Beybladers Intent On Victory Over Lawless Tyranny.' We have a higher purpose for training our beybladers to dominate. People will believe in champions by defeating those who oppose us, people will believe that we can change the world, and we will...to how _we _want it to be."

"So...what makes you think I care about that?" Kai asked as he closed his eyes, either memorizing the information or thanking God that it was caught on film.

"You don't have to Kai...do it...for yourself. Don't you want power?"

"Not really." The boy replied honestly, looking so much like a child as the cameras kept zooming in on his face.

"Your apathy is somewhat not convincing, but I'll play along...what is it that you want then?"

"Nothing." He replied equally as honestly, although there was a slight flicker in his eyes. He couldn't very well have said 'I'd like to see you get arrested and thrown in jail and this Abbey dismantled by a well placed bomb' now could he?

"Everyone wants something Kai. Join us and we will give you whatever you want just name it." Kai snorted and rolled his eyes. Yes, he was going to join them to get what he wanted, but it was an ironic twist from what he was sure Boris was thinking of. He broke into a laughter spell, his fear seemingly overcome as he thought about the ironic twist that Boris hadn't factored into his plans. "What's so funny?" The man hissed angrily.

"How ridiculous you are Boris. If you think you can buy me, then you know me less then you think you do."

"I know you're always striving for perfection." Boris tried as he clenched his fists.

"What serious beyblader isn't?" Kai shot back as he rolled his eyes once more. "Maybe I _do _spend more time searching for the perfect balance between blade and technique then the average blader does, but I'm not some free agent that you can pick up on the open market." He hissed. In fact, he was an agent that was working at this very moment to bring down everything the man he was conversing with was building.

"Perhaps-"

"No! And here's the period on the exclamation mark." And within seconds he had raised his blade and shot it straight into the camera, everything going black. It returned to the sight of the tech-guard stating bluntly:

"He took out the camera." And Boris growling in response:

"Yes he did, but fortunately, we have more. Maintain camera surveillance."

"Switching to camera ninety."

"Good, now dispatch a repair crew, have that camera fixed!"

Meanwhile Kai was still running, his feet clapping against the cobblestone as he continued to look for a way out. Everything seemed to just keep going on and on forever, and the Blade Breakers had to admit when they had been trying to find Kai in the maze, they never had accomplished it because of that very fact. The building was meant to distract people who didn't know where they were going, and it was doing a very good job of it. There was only one exit in or out, and Kai was running away from it.

One thing that they had to give Kai though was that he was getting quite a few shots in to the management while they were busy drafting him. If Kai had been working for them and he'd called Boris a _goofball in goggles _he would have been beat good. They would have just taken him down until he couldn't move had he dared to say that before. Now though...now they needed him and they would do anything to get him back. His DNA was the most compatible with the Black Dranzer, and where Tala could operate it with some efficiency it was nothing to the direct link that Kai shared with the blade, a link that the teen might not even have ever been made aware of.

"Well...lets see if your innovation techniques are up to snuff." Boris announced boldly as Kai kept running full speed ahead, unwittingly bringing himself deeper into the trap that had been raised for his benefit. "Fire!"

The ceiling had been rigged with spaceship looking machines and as Kai drew near dozens of lasers snapped out and shot towards him. He hissed and avoided the first wave, his head ducking back to avoid getting blown to pieces. Then he did a beautiful handspring and a flip before continuing to run down the hallway, always one step ahead of the lasers that were delayed as they tried to figure out where he'd gone too. He smirked through it all, his blood pumping excitedly.

It was his one major flaw. He could never turn down a challenge. He loved them too much. So when Boris had thrown down the gauntlet he was more then happy to respond in kind. He probably hadn't had this much fun in over a year and he was thoroughly enjoying the chase now that his fear had been overcome with adrenaline. There was a shit eating grin on his face and the watchers stared in dumb awe at the sight of it. Despite everything he was saying...he was enjoying this. He was enjoying the rat chase and the showing off. He actually liked it!

Once he got out of the first hall he took a deep breath and the lasers stopped. Then he glanced back the way he came to see what was happening down it, and for a moment there was nothing...and then they fired again. Gasping he pulled his head back to safety before calming his breathing once more. He didn't have much time to rest though because the lasers on the ceiling on _this _hallway had now been activated and were firing. He hissed and started to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"He's descending to level five." The tech-guard told Boris as they watched the teen systematically avoid every single laser and cut around the corners to safety. As much as he might have been enjoying the chase, he didn't want to get hit by them, and so he was constantly moving and constantly being shot at. Then he came across another sight that gave him a jarring memory back to the past.

_Multiple clips of the boys laughing and running, jumping through the traps that were set up for the unsuspecting late night sneaker, the group were seen moving passed them with ease. Soon (as the dates flew by) Ian appeared, smallest of the group back then, he was still the smallest now. _

_The sheer athleticism that was shown by the five was astounding. Their acrobatics were enough to send shivers down the watchers' spines. They leaped and flipped and jumped through traps like it was nothing, and they never once set them off. There was nothing called a bad day, there were no bad days. It was simply life._

Along the walls were the very blade launchers that he and his friends had jumped up and over when they'd been children. He couldn't do that now, he'd probably break them if they held his full body weight, but he stared at them in awe for a moment as he seemed to recall the times that Spencer would stand there and launch them one by one over the launchers and into safety.

"Oh man..." He murmured as he stared at everything. It was daunting to say the least. As kids they'd been small enough to weave through them, but now he was standing tall in the middle of all of them and he knew better then anyone else that he wasn't going to be able to handle this with athleticism alone.

"Before you left us, you were scheduled to go through the ultimate training test." Boris announced with a laugh.

"Training test?" He never had actually figured out what these were for. He'd assumed they'd been traps and nothing more, apparently not.

"A multiple beyblade assault, with all launchers launching simultaneously. These launchers are scientifically designed to be more accurate then most beybladers."

"Well. I'm not like most beybladers. I'm better and _you _know it." Kai said snootily, his pride getting the best of him.

"To face this arsenal you need more training and _you _know it. Join Bio-Volt and I wont make you face this wall of weaponry until you're fully prepared." Boris cautioned though the challenge had been issued, and Kai could just not let challenges go!

"Oh I'm prepared." He sneered as he cocked his blade and prepared it for launch. "_Very_....it's time to teach the teacher." He shot forwards, flipping gracefully and even though he was passed the launchers he spun about and fired his blade, crashing it into the metal and shooting through it. He cut through everything, knocking things down and then slamming into the blades.

He knew just like any other blader that the blade's it's most powerful moment – was just after the launch, and so when Dranzer spun around and shot backwards he caught it and re launched it. He slammed each blade when it came close, and through his ability to move his body at lightening fast speeds, he avoided the blades as they shot back towards him. He cut through everything, taking things down one by one. For once finally being given a challenge he couldn't defeat in a matter of seconds. He hadn't done something like this since his beybattles with Tala. Only those had he been fully concentrating and using his full abilities, but this...this wasn't Tala. This was just a test and he was going through it, and he was enjoying it.

Whatever anyone wanted to say about the Abbey, they did do one thing right...they did teach kids how to blade. People like Kai and his friends didn't show up because they were special. Anyone in the Abbey, like Alessander for instance, was at championship level within five years of them training. They didn't get like that simply because they were lucky, they got like that because the training program (for better or for worse) _did _work. It made kids become the best at their sport. It taught them how to move and how to act appropriately. It taught them how to blade with a skill level of efficiency that was unheard of.

As the watchers watched, even they knew that the program worked. It was focused in all the wrong things, but it did work. It did make kids better at the sport. It did make people like Kai, Tala, Bryan, Spencer, and Ian so amazing. They had learned and they were professional. As Kai was facing down a wall that seemed so impossible to beat with such skill and grace, it was the first time in a long while the Teams of the World realized with such force how much better at the game the silent teen was. He truly was a master at it. He was doing something with such ease and precision that they couldn't hope to keep up with.

There was a siren sounding and the Blade Breakers looked at each other knowingly, they knew what was going to happen next. Seconds later their faces were on the screen. Hiding out in the bushes they looked around, trying to see what they were supposed to do and where it was they were supposed to go. They didn't know, and they were very confused.

"Uh...we tripped an infra-red sensor." Kenny announced as the camera zoomed into his face. Max was crouched down looking at it.

"An Abbey with high-tech security?" He asked as he stared at it in confusion. "Doesn't make sense."

"Unless they have something to hide." Dizzy commented as the boys looked around anxiously at the sirens.

"Something...they don't want us to see." Rei added on just before a spot light shone down on them and they gasped, looking up. The group yelped in surprise, jumping up and making a mad dash across the quad. They ran as fast as they could, the sirens growing louder and louder as they approached. "Wait! That-that building! Kai pointed it out before!" He yelped as he pointed to the building where Alessander and Tyson had battled in. The group made a hard left and shot straight at it, running as fast as they could.

The screen changed and Boris was clutching his arms behind his back angrily his face in a permanent scowl. First Kai refuses to join him, then he proceeded to destroy his testing programs, and now the Blade Breakers had shown up to find their Captain. All in all it was turning into a rather annoying night.

"Make sure none of these boys, _ever _see the inside of this facility." Bois hissed.

"Sir! They won't even get close...but Kai's another story. He beat our defenses, it's only a matter of time before he makes it down." The Tech-guard commented as it showed Kai's complete and total destruction of the systems.

"Do nothing to stop him, is that understood? After all, it's as you said, it's only a matter of time." Kai wasn't moving though. He was crouching down looking at one of the broken blades he'd destroyed. His eyes were heavy with conflict as he stared at it. He wasn't shaking like he was before, but he certainly was deep in thought. Standing up he growled low in his throat and he slammed the blade onto the ground before taking off once more in a frenzied run. Boris just laughed though... "He's remembering...that sweet seductive feeling of power. Yet it's only a taste of what he'll experience when I finally persuade him to rejoin us..."

The screen snapped back to the Blade Breakers who were running as fast as they could, but that building always seemed to be getting farther and farther away. The sirens had stopped by now, but the search light was still on their tail and they were struggling to get inside the building before they could take a break, or a breather of some sort.

"Step on it! We've got to hurry!" Rei yelped as the spot light continued to stare right at them. Only now, from this angle could one see the two figures that were standing on the roof watching everything in silence and taking in the sight around them.

"They're pathetic." Ian commented lightly as he leaned forward to watch.

"Yeah...but at least they're honorable. At least they're trying to do something...even if it's a complete waste of time." Tala replied lightly, an oddly kind thing to say about the team he never showed much respect for.

"You know what the definition of insanity is?" The redhead turned and looked at him. "Doing the same thing over and over again and yet expecting a different result." He snorted and rolled his eyes before the two of them jumped in unison, falling from the top of the tower with grace and ease.

"Woah! Company!" Tyson howled as they came to a screeching halt. The two had jumped at least two stories with ease, and were standing before them with backs straight and attentions sharp.

"You don't mind us dropping in do you?" Ian asked, bringing back the tradition of saying bad puns at the wrong time.

"I hope not, because _you're _the intruders here." Tala said, his eyes sharp as he placed one hand on his hip. He took in each of the Blade Breakers. It was the first time that they had met in person, and it looked like he was measuring them up, one by one, and testing their worth. Admittedly his eyes did narrow on Tyson for a fraction longer then the rest...after all...he had been the one who had given him a headache the night before.

"You got that? You're trespassing on private property." Ian added as he looked at them all. Tyson clenched his fists at the tiny boy's words, clearly not impressed with their show.

"Is our friend in there?" He asked as he looked straight at the red head.

"No." He responded quickly, and snottily too. Apparently he didn't get a much better impression off of them then Anna or Kai did.

"That was a quick answer, we haven't described him yet. Well I think he _is _in there."

"Oh? Do you now? Then _go _right in." Ian suggested, a look of indifference plastered on his face. "If you can get passed me." He put Wyborg into his launcher, his eyes blinking up their meaning.

"Now you're talking my language." The Japanese boy said with a smile.

"Tyson!" Kenny hissed, clearly not impressed with his teammate's show of bravado. Like Kai, Tyson never could turn down a challenge. He was always going into things head first without a thought or a care in the world about the difference.

"You gotta let me have this Kenny, it's our best shot at finding Kai....get ready to step aside." Then their blades were out. Dragoon shot forward like it always did, right into the heat of battle. Ian responded in kind by zig zagging. His blade was like a snake across the desert sand, it never went in a straight motion, instead it ghosted across the ground, waiting for the right time to bite.

With Dragoon going in without thinking, it didn't realize it was going to get caught until it was too late. The purple blade twisted around and slammed into it's backside, sending it flying. Had they been in a beydish, the blade would have flown out of bounds, but now it was a matter of stopping it not ringing it. Dragoon shot forwards once more and the battle waged on.

Meanwhile Kai was busy dodging more lasers, and it was futile to try to convince anyone that he was slowly starting to run out of steam. He had been running around for so long that anyone would get exhausted. Now he was actually starting to lose focus and he'd get hit every once and a while because of his exhaustion.

Yet with each beyblade that was shooting towards him, he responded by breaking another one of Boris'. He continued to battle with such perfection so despite his lack of energy he was still a force to be reckoned with. He bypassed the blades and went straight for their launchers before they could launch.

When he was done with another wave he angrily punched the wall, his eyes flashing in fury as he growled low in his throat. He was getting sick of the games and the taunting. He wanted answers and he wanted to know them _now_. He was pissed off now officially, and he didn't want to deal with all the traps and crap that Boris had planned out for him. He honestly didn't give a shit about the man, he wanted a way out, and he wanted his memories back. Boris was just being the bastard who was taking him away from both.

"My my, what a mess you've made." Boris' voice was once more coming over the loudspeaker.

"Boris!" The teen shouted in annoyance.

"For someone in such a hurry to leave Kai, I don't see you looking for an exit...but that's understandable, you're not leaving, you're arriving." Kai clenched his fists in anger, annoyed at the man's preamble for his destiny. "Deny it all you want, you've been dissatisfied by your performance ever since you left this Abbey. That's because your training was incomplete."

Kai thought back to all the times he'd battled Tala, how slowly yet surely what used to be a match he could win at was turning into a head to head battle...and more recently Tala had won. He had won that battle. Kai had been in such shock that he'd just stared. The redhead hadn't said anything, but it was clear that he'd noticed the change too. Somewhere along the way, Kai had stopped improving where Tala had only grown.

"You're searching for something...aren't you?" Boris asked as the teen was lost in thought. "I could tell you what that something is...but that would give away the secret." The man smiled at the look of surprise on the teen's face.

"I don't need your help for anything!" He snapped back. His eyes heading over towards the door nearest him where the candles had turned on by themselves.

"Then at the very least, let me shine some light onto the situation." Kai's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't hesitate, he just kept on walking forwards. "You're searching for the darkest answers of your past, and you don't even bring a flashlight?" Boris laughed as Kai glanced down the hall which was now lighting itself up with these on demand candles. "And you call yourself prepared."

"I am prepared." Kai hissed back as he braced himself for a run.

The screen flashed back to the fight between Ian and Tyson, the two blades crashing into each other with barely any contest. Ian was barely exerting any effort and he was still winning!

"Dive bomb!" The big nosed boy announced as his blade flipped over and crashed heavily into the white one in front of it.

"Man Tyson he pile drived you!" Max announced at the sight.

"I know that!" Tyson snapped back while Dizzy made a crack comment in the background.

"Hold on now...there's something strange about that guy's beyblade." Rei murmured as he watched the battle, his golden eyes taking in ever dash and dance the blade was doing.

"Is there ever, check it out guys, Dizzy just finished her analysis and it's not very good!" Kenny announced as he held up his laptop for all to see. "The readings from that beyblade are off the scale, it's like a mini powerplant!"

"I think Tyson's in real trouble here..." Rei murmured as he looked back to the fight that Tyson was sorely losing.

"It's obvious he's trying to wear you down!" Max shouted, but it wouldn't do any good. Ian had his orders and regardless of what Tyson thought should happen, he was more then willing to keep things up until he was told to finish it.

The screen flashed back to Kai who was entering a vault of sorts. His eyes scanned the golden door for a moment before peering into the room. Boris' commentary running the whole time.

"Your search is over Kai, behold the pride and joy of the Biovolt corporation!" There, for everyone to see was none other then the demon blade itself. Kai walked towards it as though in a daze, his eyes taking it in and the claws that held it to its stand. He looked so dumbfounded as if he wasn't expecting it at all.

"I know...this beyblade." He murmured softly as he stared at it. "Black Dranzer!" He hissed, recoiling from it while Boris just laughed at him.

"Your memory is better then I thought, you remember it."

"Yes...I must have suppressed the memory." That was a lie and a half. Of all his memories, even though that one was the one that haunted him the most, it was the only one that he had ever truly shared with anyone. Still though, for the better part of six years, he truly had suppressed it. "And why wouldn't I after what happened?" He asked softly more to himself then anyone else.

_The black blade spun around a beydish and Kai was seen watching it with wide eyes. He was looking at it, looking at it like he was possessed. His finger's twitched towards it and his heart seemed to pump all the faster._

"_What did you think Kai?"_

"_Let's get out of here." _

"_Okay."_

"_We need to stop at the training lab first though…" Kai hissed as Tala made to turn the corner. The boy looked back confused._

"_Why?" They shouldn't have had to. There was no need to stop at the training lab._

"_I need to get it…that beyblade…"_

"_Kai. No." Tala hissed. He was met with a fierce glare. _

"_Luka. I need that blade." _

"_Kai…you can't control that thing. It's too strong for you. You already have Dranzer, you don't need her sister."_

"_Are you going to leave with me tonight or what?"_

"_I will, but we can't stop-"_

"_We stop for the blade or we don't leave at all." That settled that, Tala nodded meekly and looked away, his face grim. He didn't look at all pleased with the situation, but Kai couldn't care less. _

_Night fell, and it was easy enough to cut through the lock with their blades. _

_The blade spun off the launcher, and with it went a blaze of fire. Wide eyes stared at it. He couldn't look away. He couldn't tear his gaze from the fire that was surrounding him completely and totally. He didn't feel the burn. He didn't feel anything. He just saw the flame and saw it make the destruction that he wanted to rein onto the world._

_He wanted to destroy it. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted to just get rid over the whole Abbey. He wanted to get rid of Boris and his fucking three. He wanted to get rid of the dungeons and the prisons. He wanted to destroy the training rooms and the labs and that meant –_

"_KAI!" _

_Tala._

_He was screaming, ducking under flames as they passed over head. The lab was starting to literally melt from the heat. The inferno was too much to handle. Tala gasped as smoke surrounded his body. The others were screaming loudly, ducking for cover and trying to get away as everything started to fall apart._

"_Tala, Kai, let's get out of here, it's gonna blow!" Bryan screamed, as he pushed Ian out of the way from a falling piece of ceiling._

"_You get out! I'll get Kai!" Tala yelled back, and when he saw them disappearing into the hall, he concentrated wholly and completely on Kai. The teen was practically in a trance, his eyes blank as Black Dranzer raged onwards. The fire didn't touch him, it almost protected him. Yet Tala knew it wouldn't last for long. "Another fucking overdone chicken to deal with." He muttered quietly under his breath before pulling Wolborg from his case at his belt and launching it into the frey._

"_Come on you overgrown chicken! Let's see what you've got! Wolborg!" The great wolf lunged forward, its jaws crunching down on the phoenix's throat. The bird screamed loudly and tried to get away, but the ice was only melting into water that still doused the fire out. The wolf was gaining ground. "Is that all you've got!? Huh!?" _

_......................_

"_Kai! Kai!" Tala was ever persistent, and after a long while, he managed to get to his brother's side. He shook him roughly, trying to snap the boy out of it, but there was nothing there. Just blank eyes that didn't even blink away the smoke that stung at them. Finally, and quite irritated, Tala used the boy's taboo in hopes that would wake him up. "Sacha wake up you idiot!" _

_The punch sent him to the ground, and the fire licked at his body as Kai's hands went to his throat. This time around, Tala got a hand between Kai's and he stopped the strangle hold before it could even start. The younger boy was glaring murderously at him._

"_You gonna kill me Kai?" The boy flinched. "Come on. Wake up. You've been in a daze for so long now that it's pathetic. You think that you're the one at fault for all the bad that's been going on lately? Give it a rest you big baby. All you're doing is acting like a drama queen." That earned the redhead a nice punch in the face. _

"_What, is that your answer for everything? Give me a break, you've done nothing but lash out for far too long and you know what, you're just running away. You're running away from everything that's __going on in the real world and you're pushing those that love you away because you're too stubborn to admit you're not superman and you can't do everything by yourself. Cut me some slack bro I know you like the back of my hand. For once, stop running away and ask for help like the person I know you are!" Tala lashed out, punching Kai right where he'd been hit not a moment ago. "Now are we getting out of here or what?!"_

_Then the two took off, making the exit they should have made a long time ago. The ceiling collapsed in the training lab just as they made it out the door. They were running down the hallway, and behind them was the mighty roar of Black Dranzer. The blade was still spinning and the bitbeast was still looking to kill. _

_The boys were running as fast as they could, their legs pumping out underneath them. They didn't bother about traps or setting off alarms, they just needed to get out of the building before it collapsed right on their heads! They ran faster and faster, moving as quickly as their bodies willed them to move._

_They were almost to the courtyard; Tala could see it right in front of him. He laughed slightly; he could hardly believe he made it. He turned his head back to see how far behind Kai was, the slate haired boy was right on his heels, but a look of horror suddenly crossed his face._

"_Luka no!" The redhead had stepped right under a falling archway. Running faster then ever before Kai caught the boy and shoved him, both landing heavily with a thud, Kai's head cracking painfully against the ground. His vision faded and everything went black.  
_

"Black Dranzer is unlike any beyblade or bitbeast known to man kind. The power comes directly from the beyblader himself. Weak bladers produce weak effects while strong bladers like yourself produce something entirely different...as you discovered on that fateful day you tried to use Black Dranzer. You nearly destroyed the entire Abbey with your little _stunt, _and you were so traumatized by the disaster that you just blocked all memory of it from your mind. Isn't that so?" Kai flinched slightly.

"I guess.."

"Don't deny it Kai. You know it's true, the past you've repressed for so long has finally been unlocked. The question is, what do you do with that information? The answer is obvious."

"It is?"

"Look at yourself now compared to then, no longer the curious boy you've become a fearless warrior!"

"What have _you _become?" He asked as he stared up at the man who was the cause of so many nightmares.

"Me?"

"A lousy recruiter for another lousy team. That's you Boris."

"Maybe you're right about me Kai...maybe you're impossible to recruit, but you might still join us willingly. In fact I know you'll join Biovolt."

"No!" Kai hissed as he took a step back.

"My offer is too good to pass up...you see...it's what you've always wanted. Black Dranzer, the most powerful beyblade on earth, I give it to you Kai, it's yours."

"But only if..." Kai took a deep breath, and the watchers leaned forward, knowing that this was the turning point that had caused so much pain during the tournament.

"If what?"

"If I become a stooge for the Biovolt corporation right? You never give up, do you Boris? The thought of joining your shadowy group disgusts me. But that's not the problem. I can always ignore your dopey voice...but I can't ignore _it_." He slapped his hand onto the blade. "Fine, I'm all yours, and Black Dranzer is all mine. Now unlock it!"

The screen flashed over towards Tyson and his friends who were still stuck at Ian's impossible beyblade. Tala had his head tilted, listening to something in his ear piece. He nodded slightly more to himself then anything else.

"Affirmative boss. Finish it." He ordered easily enough, and Ian nodded quickly before withdrawing his blade.

"Hey, genius! The battle's not over yet." Tyson hissed as he stared at the retreating blade.

"We just got word, your friend? The boy you're looking for? His name is Kai isn't it?" Tala asked simply.

"How'd you know?" Kenny asked in awe.

"He was spotted around the back entrance of the Abbey today, he was outside a bit to long though. He's got a fever."

"What? We have to see him." The Blade Breakers murmured as they thought about their bed ridden friend. Tala wasn't moved though.

"Not right now I'm afraid, he's being treated by our doctors in the medical ward. Until the doctors give the authorization, no one's allowed in, but I promise as soon as he's better I'll take you to see him." The lie was so silky smooth that it came out like fluid to the Blade Braeakers who nodded enthusiastically.

"Really?" Max asked with a smile.

"Guess we'll...come back?" Rei commented as he looked around awkwardly.

"And as for you...whoever you are..." Dizzy piped up, begging an introduction.

"My name is Tala." The redhead replied easily, never having introduced himself in the past six years as anything but.

"And you can call me Ian." The smaller boy said simply.

"Alright then, we're trusting you to keep your promise." Tyson threatened his fist still clenched in the air.

"Yes, of course." Tala replied simply, and with that, they started to slowly walk away from the Abbey, unknowingly feeding Kai to the wolves.

Boris led Kai down the hall, back the way he had came. Kai's fingers were wrapped tightly around his beyblade...Black Dranzer glowing brightly in his hand. He seemed dazed. His mind lost on so many things, but his hands holding onto the blade as though it were a life line. One could only wonder what soothing words of malice were being whispered into his mind. The teen was already susceptible towards whatever the bird had to say, adding the confusion and broken memories into his mind, he was only getting more and more confused and more and more unsure.

"This way Kai." Boris said silkily as he placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, leading him through the halls and walking him towards the entrance of the Abbey. When they got up to the room where Tyson and Alessander were blading, the doors opened. Kai looked up more out of reflex then anything else, and his eyes sank in the sight of his brother for the first time since he truly could remember everything around him. His mouth actually dropped.

Tala's posture and facial expression were perfectly neutral. He barely had to move to make himself appear threatening and in total control of the world around him. Ian was at his side as a willing right hand man, but everyone knew that if it came down to it, it wouldn't be Ian that Luka would ask questions of.

"Luka..." Kai murmured without thinking, and blue eyes narrowed dangerously at that.

"Actually, it's _Tala. _Sir, may I ask what Lord Voltaire's...grandson is doing here?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow at the confused teen who seemed to shrink back slightly under the dark tone of his friend and companion. Never before had Tala ever spoken so rudely towards his brother, and he only did it now because that was what was expected of him. He was not Kai's friend any longer. He was just another person from the Abbey.

Boris laughed though, clearly enjoying the turmoil that seemed to be rippling through Kai's frame. The confused teen was blinking back what looked suspiciously like tears, and he raised a hand to his head as though to ward off a headache. He was so fragile at that moment that he could break at the wrong word. Boris just thought it was hilarious.

"Well my boy...young Kai here is going to be running the Black Dranzer program...and he's going to be our champion." Tala glared at the teen, his apparent dislike more then obvious. "It seems he's remembered his time here at the Abbey...Luka indeed..." the man snorted. One of his hands pressed meaningfully on the boy's back and he went rigid at the feeling.

Memories or not, Kai didn't like being touched on the best of days. He moved slightly away from the man, but was just roughly pulled back to his side. It was a warning, and he listened to it. Kai never cowed to anyone, but at that moment he was actually looking and appearing much like he did as a child who dodged the man's footsteps because he feared what he would do.

Kai was scared...as hard as it was to believe it, he was legitimately scared. Quest for power and the threat of the possession of a Bit Beast aside, this man shook him to his core on the best of days. With his memories so close to the surface he had never had time to get over the dark moments of his past like the others had done. He'd never been able to let it go. Now every few moments it looked like he would bolt out of his skin, the abrasive nature he'd possessed earlier seemingly disappearing now that they were face to face once more. With his arm around his shoulder....pulling him in....Kai didn't like it, and he didn't want to be anywhere near the man.

Interestingly enough, Tala himself – the master of pretend – seemed to be having a hard time stomaching the view. He was smart enough to be able to pick up on the subtle movements and the like that was proof alone of Kai's unconfortability, and he didn't seem to appreciate it. He was tense, and his eyes kept moving back and forth between Boris and Kai's as though he didn't know who to help.

"I think that it'd be the perfect opportunity for you all to get re-aquainted. Don' t you?" Boris asked lightly as he all but shoved Kai towards Tala. He barely had enough time to catch his footing and keep himself from running into the redhead who was still watching him expectantly. A sneer formed on his face though at the thought, and Kai grimaced slightly.

"What, I'm supposed to think he's all _that _just because he remembers a few things? It's going to make up for lost time? Pathetic..." He turned though and started across the room. Kai remained motionless. "Well come on then, or are you deaf as well as dumb?" A growl echoed low in his throat and a glimmer of the old Kai shone through as he glowered up at his brother.

"Don't you dare talk to _me_ like that you sniveling punk. You're just mad that I'm in control of your vice." He brandished his new-found beyblade proudly, and Tala rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, it's not a drug, and you are not my enabler." He hissed lowly.

"Then what am I? Your dealer? Because that's the only way you're ever going to touch this blade again."

"Kai, you're not even a blip on the radar of being a problem for me. You've been gone for nearly seven years, you really think that I'm going to be concerned with you? The program goes on beyond your recollection...if you _can _recollect that is. Last I heard you were still slobbering on yourself because you couldn't remember how to eat properly...or _move _for that matter. Speaking of...how're your legs feeling?" When Tala wanted to play dirty...he played dirty. A flash of hurt crossed Kai's face before he rebounded with a vicious fury.

"Quite well considering _you're _the one that put me in such a situation. Next time I'll just let the ceiling crush you it'll save me from having to hear you bitch about it." Tala clenched his fists, rounding on him with hate filled eyes. He opened his mouth, but froze when Boris slapped Kai _hard _across the face. The teen went flying to the floor, Black Dranzer slipping from his hands as he crashed to the ground. His head snapped back and cracked roughly against the flood. Blood slipping from his lip from where it split, Kai blinked up at the man with a stunned expression on his face.

"You will learn your place in this world Kai...it seems you've forgotten much in your time away from the Abbey. I'll just have to teach you, won't I?" Boris asked lowly as he leaned down to stare at the boy's face. "You never were...punished...for that incident were you?" The man asked as he laughed slightly. Kai's mouth dropped, and the watchers froze.

The two Demolition Boys were tense as they stared down at Kai who was about to find out just how many punishments he'd accumulated on his hiatus. The teen shot a frantic glance to Tala only once before he was roughly grabbed by the scarf that hung tightly around his neck and dragged to his feet. He gasped as the scarf started to strangle him, his hands flying up to it as they tried to get free.

Boris didn't relent though, and slowly he started to wrench the boy towards the darkest stairs in the Abbey...the stairs that led to a room with a bar...three inches above the ground.

Tala and Ian watched him go, they didn't dare to move. They both knew they'd be hearing screams in their minds for the rest of the night. The tortured screams of a boy who was already far too scared to have allowed himself to come in there.

The redhead moved forwards and scooped the black and green blade up off the ground, the light flickering off of it and into his eyes. He looked at it for a long while, and it appeared as though he were sorely tempted to destroy it right then and there, but he didn't. He simply slipped it into his pocket and walked away, heading down towards his room where he would be waiting to see if they brought Kai when he was finished being...punished.

It didn't take all that long though, which everyone was thankful for. Kai was his roommate once again, mainly because that's where it made the most sense for him to be – especially with their history. It was better to have them together then it was to separate them. That way Boris could keep an eye on them both at the same time without much worry.

When he was brought in...he wasn't even fully conscious anymore. His eyes were half closed and he looked completely and totally out of it. He wasn't wearing the same clothes as he was before, and that was a good thing, because if he had been he would have probably been shredded to pieces. His back was a mess, a complete and total mess. Bruises were covering his torso and his neck had marks of a strangle hold being in place around it. Any place that his clothes would cover was ruined. The skin torn and the flesh bruised, he looked terrible.

The guards were half dragging, half carrying him back into the room and when they got there they just threw him at the redhead and walked out. Tala glowered at them, but caught the teen easily enough.

The watchers though...they were horrified. They could hardly stomach the sight of the teen being so badly butchered. They had assumed that he would be, he was punished for almost anything in the past, and yet now...now was something different. This had only happened less then three weeks ago. The Blade Breakers had spoken to him the very next day, they all could remember him and they all could take in his face.

Kai never took his scarf off once when they were around, even when he had gone back to them, he'd slept with it on. Rei had been confused at first, but he'd brushed it aside after a while. Kai's shirt was always on his body, and his comfortability at being touched went way down. He hated anything and everything that they had to offer him. He didn't want anything to do with them physically. Now it all made sense though. He was completely torn apart.

"Are you with me?" Tala whispered knowingly. His voice soft as he held his brother close to him, not even anywhere near worried about the cameras. Fuck em - he seemed to think as he gently brought the teen towards the spare bed in the room.

"Lu...ka..." He murmured softly, his eyes half closed as he stared up in confusion at his brother.

"I'm here." He answered back softly, as he started to tend to the wounds.

"M...don' feel goo..."

"I bet you don't." Tala replied as he gently started to clean away the blood and get peroxide into the cuts. The teen hissed underneath him, writhing slightly.

"Luukaa....hurts!" He moaned, sweat falling down his brow.

"I know little brother, but you need to bear with it alright? I'll be finished in a little bit..."

"Don'....stop..." The heir to Volaire's hands went up as though to fend off a foe, and Tala pushed them back down, telling him to calm down as he tried to continue what he was doing. The boy didn't listen though, he kicked and thrashed and tried to move, but everything he did just got him more and more overpowered by his older brother who wasn't letting him do anything he wasn't supposed to do. "Ah!"

"Sacha, you need to stop it." Luka whispered when the teen kept flailing. There was a knock on the door, and when he looked up Bryan was standing there, grim faced as ever. Not to long after that, the last two members of their team arrived, going over and trying to help as the teen, who was now actually _really _caught in the throws of a fever, had his first night back in hell.

The screen moved to Boris' office, where the man was talking buisness with Voltaire.

"It took a lot longer then we thought Voltaire, to convince him to join Biovolt we had to give him Black Dranzer, but that was our plan all along. _That _combination will be the key to our success." He caught himself. "To _your _success. Decades of planning are about to bear fruit and no doubt Kai will play his role brilliantly"

"My grandson will fulfill all obligations and thwart all resistance. He just doesn't know it yet."

And Boris took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.


	28. The Promise

**Windstar: **It has been months since this story's completion, and while working on a off shoot of this - PAPER CLIP - I realized that I couldn't find this chapter online. Why? Because for some stupid reason, I didn't post it! Realizing my mistake, I've tried to correct that. I've uploaded this chapter so that it is where it should be - between Fading Away and before Lady Bird of the Lake. I'm terribly sorry for this, and don't know if anyone is still even reading this. Apologies, and hopefully this will make more sense as there are several references to this scene in later chapters and it wasn't even included. I'm sorry! Please forgive me!

**Disclaimer: **See first chapter.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Promise**

After that night, Kai seemed to be back to his old self once and for all. Memories firmly locked in place, and not seeming to budge in the slightest, he was more then prepared to face the horrors of the Abbey as a member of the Demolition Boys once more. He was Tala's right hand man, and the two were rarely seen without each other.

Boris, if he noticed the drastic change in his apprentices, didn't notice. In fact, he didn't seem to particularly _care_ either. He just kept moving forwards with his plan and everyone followed his lead without so much as a peep. The first thing that became obvious to them was that Kai was actually not as good as Tala.

He was more at Spencer and Bryan's level now. After years of not having the strict training that he was used to in the past, he had never been subjected to the training that the boys had undergone in the future. Personal bests or not, Tala beat him every time they stepped into the dish. It was pissing him off too. He let his anger show in more then one flare of temper, and Tala found himself snickering often enough at the sight of his brother's agitation.

Boris cued them up and called out the command to begin, and the two were at it once more, their blades shooting forwards and wrapping around each other. Tala had mastered Wolborg long ago, and Kai was at a disability. He was blading with Black Dranzer now. While the demon bird was in fact more agile and simply put, a better blade, Kai couldn't fully control it without dazing off.

That was the point of these exercises...he needed to be able to control it fully and completely. This was no longer a practice ring and this was no longer a simulation. The demon bird was real this time, and he needed to control it. He had nearly lost himself the first time, everyone had been on edge when he'd launched it again after so many years apart.

His eyes had instantly gone blank and he'd all but stopped breathing. For a moment fire looked like it was going to erupt all around them, but Tala had shot into action and had suppressed the bird with his own power. The bird hadn't liked it, and it had set him aflame, but Spencer had acted quicker then the fire could burn and had doused it with Seaborg's power before any true damage could take place.

And so it was. Time and time and again, Kai would fire the blade, and struggle to keep himself in control, and when he was losing that cool, his brother would step in and supress the bird. It had been what they were supposed to do their whole lives...what they'd been created to do.

Perhaps that's why Boris hadn't particularly cared much when he'd noticed that the two were back to being close friends and allies. Because their blood was calling for it. Their very genetics were telling them that they needed to do this. It was base instinct, and false anger and hate could never change the fact that in the end of the day the two of them were bound to be the mirror images of each other.

Kai's near blue hair and red eyes were an exact opposite of Tala's flamy locks and cobalt orbs. Kai was raised to be the leader, the one who would lead the army of the world to it's ultimate destruction. He was the one who had been fated since before he was born to be the wielder of the most powerful bitbeast in the world. Tala was raised to be the guardian. The defender and the one who would protect his leader at all costs. He was fated since before he was born to shield Kai and to be his barrier from those who wished to cause him harm.

Boris knew this. So he had always been slightly amused by Tala's annoyance with the Hiwatari heir after he had left. It hadn't taken long for them to reconcile though, especially after Kai's _memories _had awakened and he _remembered _Tala's presence in his life.

Black Dranzer was a monster though. It was a spirit that did not want to be controlled. It wanted to pave it's own road, and it wanted to do it its way. Kai may be slowly yet surely bending the bird to his will, but the consequences were harsh. He was exhausting himself, and he was getting no closer to defeating Tala in a fair fight.

The redhead had promised not to lighten up on him, and so the two had been going all at it. It wasn't to say that there was _no _contest. In truth, Kai was an extraordinary blader. He was one of the best in the world without a doubt. Far better then Tyson, that was for certain. However, Kai had left the Abbey where Tala had stayed. Where Kai had resorted to training himself, Tala had strict tutelage. Kai was still phenomenal, but Tala was still better.

In their youth, Tala had always been a step behind. It had started with his learning deficiency. He had started speaking so late in life that he hadn't been able to pick up on the world around him as fast as everyone else. He was a little bit slower, and despite his genius level IQ, he was still having a hard time piecing things together. What had taken Kai only days to master, Tala had taken weeks. It had been a simple matter of not understanding what was being asked of him.

It hadn't lasted long though. After a few short years, Tala had reached the level of learning Kai was at and the two flourished. They had draws more often then not. There was rarely a winner between them. Then Kai pulled ahead a little more, because he wouldn't be shown up by his friend, and Tala had let him.

Yet Kai had been nine when they'd split apart. He'd been nine years old, and at nine years of age, the training wasn't nearly as hard. It was something that the watchers couldn't believe wasn't resented about Kai. The boys from the Abbey were oddly accepting to him in every single way.

He had left though. He had left them all behind. They had stayed to get tortured. They had stayed to get beaten and broken. They had stayed in nightmares and in darkness. He had left and eaten ice cream in the park. He had left and laughed with Adeline. He had left and was actually raised by a man who loved him. They had no life outside of this Abbey. He did.

The only thing that Tala had in truth were those few short months in Italy he'd spent with Anna. He had those, and nothing else. Bryan and the others had nothing at all. They didn't even have a break.

So it was odd that Kai wasn't resented more then he was. Resented because he was pushing his freedom in their faces, resented for laughing about being able to breathe fresh air. It was a resentment that no one could really fault them for, but it didn't matter...because they didn't resent him.

For some odd reason, instead of resenting him for his freedom, they simply encouraged him. There was a love in their hearts that was beating solely for the life of their brothers. They lived and existed for each other, and there was nothing that they could change about that. They loved each other tenderly, and they cared for each other in a way that made normal siblings pale in comparison.

They would lay their lives down on the line for each other in a heart beat if they were asked too...but they never would be. No one would have the time to ask. They'd offer themselves up first. They wouldn't need to be asked. They cared too much about one another to get asked. It was as simple as that.

Kai was their dear friend, and he, like Anna, represented a world outside of the Abbey. A world that they were struggling to protect and defend. So even if they didn't experience the freedom themselves, they dreamed of the freedom, and they yearned for it. They wanted it too.

Still though, Kai had a long way to go before one could think of him and Tala being on the same level as they had been when they were nine. Tala was far superior now. His mind had been cleared of all distractions. He was completely and totally at ease. Nothing could stop him from his goal of defeating his brother. His goal that he made because he needed to keep Kai working. He needed Kai to realize his strength and get a move on.

Kai was the future of the world. His choices and his actions were what was going to cause the world to break or be saved. Kai was the one person who could truly control Black Dranzer. He was haunted by the bird and so at the moment his control was tenuous at best, but he was truly the one that could get the best results out of her.

He was born to be with her, and she was born to serve him. Where Kai was the Leader, and Tala was the Guardian, she was the soldier who was more then ready to take out the competition. Black Dranzer wanted to be controlled, but it wanted to be controlled by someone who could truly do it. While Kai's blood said he could, his mind was still fearful of the creature since his last experience. He needed to break free from that hold if he had any hope in the world of saving himself from a fate wore then death.

The Bird would break his mind. It would infiltrate his senses and tell him what to do. He would be banished into darkness and he wouldn't bea ble to breathe a free breath any longer. He would be trapped, only this time – there would be no escape. That was the true fear of controlling the Black Dranzer Server. If one was not careful, one would find themselves trapped in the bird's scream. It could replay all the wishes and desires that you ever had. It would bring them to the surface, and it would destroy them before you. It would break your mind because Black Dranzer was a sadist. It wanted to be controlled, but it was constantly trying to prove that it's master was worth it. It was constantly testing its master will and power.

Kai was so easy to read. The first time he'd attempted to use the server, the real one that is, he threw himself out of that chair and gasped for breath, his body shaking fearfully as he tried to keep himself together. There were only a few images that could have caused him such pain, and of them, Tala knew instantly the bird had chosen.

Kai's mother had always been a hard thing for him to forget. Kai had been lucky back then when he'd forgotten everything. He had been lucky because he hadn't remembered what it looked like on that day.

He hadn't remembered his mother's body torn to pieces as it was laying on the concrete. He couldn't remember the tiny arms that wrapped around him to try to steady him. He couldn't remember the pain he set upon Tala that day when he screamed such hurtful words to him. Yet now he could.

Now he knew it all, and now his mother's body was in his mind almost every time he closed his eyes. Black Dranzer was leaving her mark, and Tala was preparing himself for the day that the bird would attempt to truly take over her master and move in the human realm with no confrontations and only the destruction of their world in its mind.

Tala was no fool. He knew well enough that he wouldn't be able to save Kai from the bird completely without sacrificing himself for his brother's sake. It was simple mathematics. The bird was a constant. It was not going to change. It was going to do what it wanted to. With or without help if it so chose. How it struck down in the end was the X. The thing that was a question in the back of everyone's mind. No one knew who would fall prey to the bird at long last. No one knew for certain that is.

So they tested it out, over and over and over again. Kai's mind was constantly lost in the server. He was constantly under radar as he was gasping for breath and completing tasks and missions to the best of his ability. In the server though, his mind was crumbling slowly yet surely. It was not capable of keeping up with the strain for so long, and he was loosing himself to the fight.

Tala was the one who at long last prepared to stand up to Boris and make sure that tell him that Kai couldn't keep it up for much longer. The man though, didn't say anything to him. He simply walked forwards towards where the two had been sitting at the time. He'd walked in on them just as his son had said that, but he hadn't cared. The boy stared at him nervously, wondering faintly where this is going. The man's hands were blood stained, but that hardly seemed to matter anymore. He knew whose blood it was anyway.

"Tala...come with me." Tala nodded, his heart all but stopping in his chest. Kai looked up at him wearily, concern on his face. He moved as though to follow, but was immediately yelled at for even considering it.

Tala vanished down the hall, his eyes sharp and narrow as he stared at them while he passed. He didn't seem to understand what was going on, but the deeper they got into the Abbey, the deeper they fell into the maze like patterns that were so easy to get lost in. They stopped at a door, and Boris looked at his son with _such _an expression before he opened the door and his eyes fell on his mother. The screen faded before anyone could see a reaction.

When Tala came back from wherever it was that he had gone, he was quiet and he looked miserable. He seemed to be deep in thought and he didn't seem to be able to keep himself focused at all. Kai looked at him worriedly, trying to understand the teen's point of view. He tried to understand anything, but the other wasn't yielding him any information. He just continued on without speaking.

"What happened?" Kai asked, his voice soft and gentle as he rested a hand on his brother's shoulder. He was certainly in a 'little brother' phase now, and after being the 'older brother' for so long, it was clear something was wrong.

"My mother's dead." He replied softly as he leaned back against the wall nearby. Kai stared at him in awe. He could hardly believe what he'd just heard. The boy seemed troubled. He didn't look very happy...but that was it. There was no true emotion accompanying him. It was as if he'd found out he'd lost the lottery. A shame, and upsetting, but no big deal. He honestly didn't seem to care all that much about her death, and in truth he had only known the woman for a short time. He hadn't known her long enough for her to make a lasting impression.

Yet at the same tim, this was the woman that Mikhail had given his life for. This was the woman who had been the cause of so many things in their lives. Tala seemed more troubled by those occurrences then he was by her death. He'd told Kai without much of a care, but he was thinking about it without truly having much emotion on it.

Not to far away Bryan had over heard him and his mouth had dropped. _He _looked more heartbroken then Tala was. He looked down, his fists clenching, and the familiar signs of his anger growing became apparent. Tala didn't say anything to him to calm him down though. He didn't have any words to break him from the tirade that was bound to come. He just stayed silent and still, thinking.

Perhaps he truly was broken up about it. Perhaps he truly was feeling the pain and misery of losing a parent. Yet, he didn't really seem all that upset. Even as Kai looked at him, he was only very slightly put out by the situation and even that seemed like he was forcing himself to feel something.

Bryan had punched something and it had shattered on impact, and Spencer let out a low sigh before walked towards him and started to try to calm him down. The boy was furious though. He was absolutely furious. He couldn't believe that Mikhail had given his life up for nothing. He couldn't believe that Mikhail hadn't done anything.

That woman had still died and there was nothing that they could do. He was so furious and so frustrated, that he refused to be calmed down. Then he glanced at Tala, so calm and collected, if anything just lost in thought. The woman's beloved child who she had longed to see after so long...didn't care at all.

He flew towards the redhead who glanced up at him boredly. Ian groaned, shaking his head as he foresaw exactly what was going to happen. Bryan moved to punch at the teen, and Tala sidestepped and landing his own hammering blow into the older boy's stomach. Blinking up in confusion, the teen stared at him, his mouth open slightly. For good measure though, the redhead followed up with a punch to the cheek bone and the other went flying.

"If you're quite finished throwing a tantrum, there's something I want to do...since we might not have another chance at this." He said evenly, looking at the four teens as they stared at him.

They were alone in the training room, just how they liked it. They were in charge of their own schedules right now, and their free time was filled with extra training hours and extra time in the laboratory. They wanted to keep working, and they wanted to perfect everything before they never got another chance to practice.

They looked at him curiously, but nodded anyway, and he motioned for them all to follow him. In his hand he was playing with something distractedly. The watchers couldn't see what it was from the angle of the camera, but whatever it was it was something that had captured the boy's attention wholly and completely.

The Demolition Boys followed him through the Abbey and up the stairs into the courtyard. They walked around the building, never once leaving their grounds or tripping a sensor. In the back of the Abbey was a graveyard, and as they drew close they drew more and more serious.

There was a large tree in the graveyard, and everyone grew silent as they approached it. There was no stone, but there was a carving in the tree that the camera couldn't pick up. The five boys stared at it long and hard in silence, and then Tala at long last held up what was in his hand.

A purple beyblade...Mikhail's beyblade. Bit beast and all it was somehow in Luka's possession now. All eyes stared it, watching it in silence. They were talking softly, and since the camera was so far away, the watchers were deaf to what they were saying. Bryan held out his hand though, and Tala pressed the blade into it.

For a moment there was silence and then all of a sudden the air wielder had taken the blade and carved _deeply _into his palm. The watchers gasped as they stared at the action in horror. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Only Rei seemed to be slightly unsurprised by the action. He recalled staring at their palms in the hospital...long scars that matched each one of them.

Ian was next, he took the blade from Bryan and mimicked the action, both hands were given long slashes through them. He only winced slightly, not really focusing on the pain so much. His eyes were locked on the tree and his lips were moving. It was almost as though he were saying a prayer as he spoke. A prayer for whom, no one would be able to tell, but from the manner that it was being done in, they could only imagine it being either Mikhail or Marina.

Spencer took the blade next, he too sharing some words with the ghost of whoever was floating above them. He carved into his palms without much of a care, and he passed the blade on. His shoulders were rigid and his eyes were a stormy sea. He was grieving in his own way, just like everyone else, and it was becoming increasingly more and more obvious that despite Marina's death, this ceremony was not for her.

This was something all together different. This was something that they were doing for their lost brother. Someone who had deserved freedom and yet had it stolen from him. This was done for someone who had sacrificed himself for something he'd believed in and had never had the honor of a proper burial service.

Beneath their feet were the bodies of so many children who would never breathe free air. Beneath them was the mass grave of Balkov Abbey where dozens of children had been murdered and hidden away. They were standing on the remains of their mistakes. The weak were confined to this place. This place where there weren't even tomb stones. This place where there were only small tokens like the name written on the tree, and the faith of those who would visit them.

There were some footsteps just as Kai was given the blade, his hands swiftly making quick work of cutting into them. He was talking, not really paying much attention to his surroundings, and not much caring. The others looked over and saw who was coming and surprise filtered on their features. It was one of the Maims. They never had been close with their rival team members, but they were still just that, a team. Mikhail was their captain, and he was their friend despite the nature of their team.

Tala looked at him, and then back at his unharmed hands for a brief moment before cutting into his own palms quickly. He barely batted an eye. His face didn't show any pain. He didn't show any worry or concern. He simply cut his palms quickly and efficiently, and when he was done, he held out the blade for the newcomer.

Slowly the boy, his name had been Andrei, moved forwards and mimicked the actions of the others. More footsteps were coming now though. The children of the Abbey seemed to appear like vampires at the smell of blood. Dozens of children were appearing now, all of them flocking around the tree as they stared at it, and remembered the one that was lost.

If there could be a funeral service, this would be it. The Demolition Boys held up their blood stained hands and pressed them into each other, a circle of blood running through their palms into the brother next to them. Andrei and the others formed and outer circle, and it continued on from there.

The watchers could hardly take their eyes off the ceremony. It had been meant to be a private moment between those five, but it had turned into a near conglomeration of the entire _senior class _of the Abbey. All of the kids who had grown up with Mikhail were there. All of the people who had been a team mate or a friend, or even a pupil of the person who was now several months dead were there.

The funeral service that had been denied for so long had finally happened. The boys finally had their peace. They all spoke a few words, words that were soundless to the camera. They all had a heartfelt thing to say. Each one of them, their hands cut and their eyes weary knew the price that he had paid, and each one of them knew the consequences of grieving for a traitor.

Yet Mikhail had been their friend. He had been their ally. He had been there for all of them at some point or other. He was rude and he was cruel at times, but he was still Mikhail Ivanov. He was still their companion. Tala stood before them all, a beacon in the dark. Everyone was listening to him as he spoke to them.

Determination filtered on their faces. He was talking about something now, something that the camera longed to hear but couldn't make out. The teens and tweens were standing there listening, and whatever he said was met with nods of agreement.

It was time that they finished this. It was time that Mikhail's death was no longer repeated. It was time that the good people of Balkov Abbey were no longer treated with the disrespect that the guards harmed them with. It was time to build a new world, a world that they could live in, in freedom. That world was just around the corner, at the end of the World Championships...in less then a week...their world would find freedom. They would be free of everything. They were going to rebuild their world and it was going to be the way they deserved it to be.

Mikhail wasn't going to die in vain. He died for what he believed in, and no one should have to go through that anymore. There had been too many unmarked graves of friends who couldn't get the respect that the boys of the Abbey had just shown the traitor who had kidnapped the _Prince of the World_. There had been too many deaths of children who shouldn't have had to die. Too many siblings...too many innocent cherubs not old enough to understand the world they'd been killed in.

It was time that this world saw everything as it was. They were going to break free and they were going to bring this world a revolution that was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. The revolution of the weak who needed to stand up for what was right. The revolution of the children that the government ignored. They were here. They had been trained to be soldiers, and they were soldiers.

Now it was time to fight for _their _cause. _Their _cause that suited _their _purposes. The young might not understand. The young wouldn't have to understand. They, the people who had been there their whole lives did know. They were old enough now to understand what was happening, and where everything was going to go.

Kiril was gone, there was no Prince of the World. All that was left was Tala. Tala who would bear the beacon of the Abbey through the darkest tunnel. Tala, who could rally the hearts of all of those around him with only a few short moments.

The watchers didn't know what was spoken, but they knew that the blood that those thirty-odd boys spilt that day had been a promise. A promise for the brotherhood that had embraced everyone in the Abbey since the time they had stepped foot on those cobblestones. The promise of people who were going to rise up and embrace a freedom that was theirs.

Mikhail was a death that haunted the children of the Abbey. He never should have been killed. Had Boris understood the man's place in the Abbey, he would have known that. Mikhail had been a student...and he'd been a guard. He'd been one of the chosen few who had gone through everything, and because of that, children of the Abbey looked up to him.

He was a hero to them. Someone who was a success story. To them Mikhail was someone special. When he betrayed the Abbey, he had succeeded in more then just rescuing Adrien and Kiril from Boris. He had succeeded in sowing the seeds of doubt amongst those old enough to truly understand what had happened.

He had stood up for the young ones. The young ones who were being whipped on the three and killed in the dark. He stood up and said that they were not to be killed. He took them away to save their lives...he took the Prince of the World away to keep him from his destiny.

For someone who had been such an inspiration and such a true blue soldier to defect the way he had, it meant that something was truly wrong. Mikhail hadn't just died for no reason. He hadn't died for Marina, and he hadn't died for the two toddlers he'd saved. He had died so that the children of the Abbey would wake up.

He had died so that people would realize just how wrong everything was for the first time. He had died so the world would start turning for the fate of the children instead of the fate of Boris. Time continued ticking, and with each passing second, more and more people were starting to doubt the great plan that Boris had. More and more people were starting to get worried and confused.

These thirty boys were the start. If they believed in Mikhail...and if they followed Tala, then they would be among those who were involved in the resistance. They would be involved in those that would defend the lives of the children of the Abbey and save the children from pain. They would be there to carry the babes and bring them to the light that was waiting for them.

They were doubting, and they were doubting _hard. _All of them were connected by blood. Their blood now sank into the soil that was Mikhail's grave. It was a blood oath of the crudest kind. Marked by blood and sworn as brothers, these people were the start of a revolution that was shaking the very foundations of their world.

The blade was passed around once more, each person clutching it to their hearts as though they were saying a final prayer and blessing to it. Each one of the children that were out there that night looked to Tala with determination, and as his hands finally clasped back around it, everyone watched as he knelt and slowly dug a hole. Bryan crouched down and helped him, and after a moment all of the Demolition Boys (including Kai) started digging. They didn't go too far, but when they finally stopped the blade of Mikhail Ivanov was laid to rest where it belonged. Next to its master, and free from the hands of a man who would only use it for evil.

Not far away there was the caw of a great bird, and all eyes looked up in stunned silence as the bird, an eagle, swooped up and away- dissapearing into the clouds. Mikhail's bitbeast, Balborg, had been an eagle. No one could quite believe the coincidence, but then again, this ceremony had been rather abrupt in the first place. Someone once said...there was no such thing as coincidence, there is only the inevitable.

They buried the blade with its master, and they stood up. Their palms were starting to heal, and with any luck they wouldn't all get AIDS from their spontaneous blood transfers. That blade had been soaked in the blood of all of Mikhail's allies before it was lain to rest. A part of them eternally with him forever.

Kai placed a hand on Tala's shoulder, and the teen turned to look at his brother. For the first time the watchers were able to see just what had bothered him so much about his mother's death. It truly wasn't her death. It was her legacy. She had died and Mikhail had wished so much for her to live. There had been no talk of the twins, but it was most likely assured now that they too had died for their survival had also been Mikhail's wish.

Tala had wanted to make Mikhail's wish a reality. He had wanted the man's last wish on this Earth to be fulfilled. Yet he wasn't able too. Marina was dead, and Kiril was gone – presumably with Adrien and Alessander in hiding. The only thing he had left now was that child. That child that Mikhail wanted to protect. So he would do it for him. He would protect Kiril most likely until the day that he died because Kiril was Mikhail's wish for freedom. He wanted that child to be alright. He wanted that boy to live, so Tala would see it through. He'd make it right.

The next day Kai had made his debut as a Demolition Boy. Ian and Tala had wrapped up their sessions without so much as a bat of the eyes, and Kai's blunt statement had come from the strength he had now possessed as a wielder of Black Dranzer. It seemed that over night he had been given a fire that was burning in his soul. He had been given a burning passion that could not be erased.

He had the blood of his companions and the trust of his lost brother in his heart. Mikhail couldn't make it that day, but he would be watching from Heavan and yelling at him the whole way he was certain. Kai stood before the All Starz with a power and passion that couldn't be ignored. He was far too strong to lose to them on a bad day, and now with the strength that was flowing through his veins, he wasn't going to lose now.

He destroyed them completely, his eyes not once flinching as he tore their bitbeasts away from them. He needed to do this because this was the destiny that he was paving for the future. He was going to lead this world into a revolution, and with his brothers at his side the world would be reborn.

That was his wish. He wished fully and intently on the world around him to change. He wanted people to realize with their battles that week, just how close everyone had come to dying. He wanted people to know just how close the world had been to being destroyed. He wanted everyone to know just what it was that was happening in the world around them. He wanted everyone to see that they needed to change.

This world was dying, and they needed to change. The children of tomorrow, the future of the world, were alive and waking. They were answering their calling. They were waking up with a power that could change everything and it was time people listened. Nobody listened. It was because people didn't listen to the lunatic ravings of a mad man that Boris had gotten away with so much.

He had killed so many children...murdered so many prospective futures for the sake of his dream, and now Kai had a dream. He had a dream that all of this would end. That with his strength and his will, he would be able to destroy everything Boris had worked so hard to create.

He wanted to see his world undone. He wanted to watch his face when he realized that the world would be moving on without him...and he wanted to see how the man felt behind those cold unfeeling bars. It wasn't fun to be trapped in a dungeon, and it was about time the man figured that out for himself.

The White Tigers suffered similar fates as the All Starz. It was nothing personal. It was just good business. However for Kai, as the watchers saw him through the eyes of the cold unfeeling cameras, it seemed as though Kai honestly was seeking revenge against them. As though he was actually enjoying giving back some of the pain that he himself had felt.

Perhaps that was Black Dranzer's influence. Perhaps it was just fulfilling his darkest desire while fulfilling his brightest one at the same time. It didn't matter though. For the Teams of the World...to see their blades get beaten down and destroyed by this cold and unfeeling person who never so much as batted an eye in their direction, they found themselves in a hard position.

They knew now what drove the teen, but it didn't make them feel any better at all about why he was doing what he was doing. They knew now that he was doing everything because he had the fate of the world in mind, but he didn't have to do it so arrogantly and so pompusly. Kai truly did have a jack ass way of going about things.

It was almost like he was purposefully trying to piss people off. The Blade Breakers thought it was all a bluff though. That he was doing this for some other reason...that he really hadn't gone psycho and been lost to them. So when Tyson had arrived to get some answers, the Japanese boy had been honestly shocked by Kai's hard indifference and the deliverance of his blade.

After he had left, there was one scene that was more important than most anything they'd seen so far. It had been the reason Kai had returned to the Blade Breakers. Through all the misery that had clouded over them...there had been no sign of Kai wanting to return. He was content with the Demolition Boys. He was content at last with his family.

"It's time to go." Tala told him softly, briefly looking up to stare at the camera as it stared unfeelingly back at him.

"We can't talk here." Kai told him just as softly.

"I've got it covered. This file doesn't exist. It's loading itself on a computer somewhere but it doesn't exist here." He said simply as he looked at his brother who shuddered slightly. "Does it bother you that I can do that?" He asked, looking serious.

"No...it bothers me when I think of what you had to go through to be able to do that." Kai answered truthfully.

"I didn't think you'd give him Dranzer."

"I can't think with her here...any minute now _he _could come for her...and I can't protect her forever. It's better that she's gone for now."

"Kai...that chicken loves you...and being away from her for so long in the midst of all of this isn't going to be easy. You're already away from your own Lady Love-"

"You keep bringing her up recently...why?" Tala stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I _was _going to tell you what she looked like in a bikini, but now you're just going to have to leave it to your dirty little imagination."

"Knock it off Luka..." Kai mumbled, looking away. The redhead's eyes narrowed slightly, and he reached out, spinning Kai around so their gazes met. He was growling low in his throat.

"Get the hell out of here." He hissed, and Kai blinked up at him in dumb silence. "Contact the Blade Breakers and get the hell out of here."

"What are you going on about? You're my team, my _family_."

"And you're going to lose the only friends you've got besides us. Kai, our love for you is unconditional. We will love you until the day you die, and beyond! They don't know you that well and you know it. Ever since you started doing your ego-trip blading matches you've basically distanced yourself from the only people you've been able to talk to that wasn't apart of this twisted world. Go back to your team, and be with them while this is finishing up...get away from here while they're still your friends."

"They won't be for long...when they find out what I've done..."

"Then they don't deserve you, but hold onto them while they still are there to care Kai...they're hurting and they want you back. So go back to them little brother. Go back to them and be there for them." Tala touched the teen's head, squishing his bangs. "Go to Lake Baikal, Anna and I can be online and listen in if you'd like...challenge them to a match and _lose_."

"What is it with you and me losing?" The boy muttered as he struggled slightly to get out of his brother's hold.

"I figure you got good practice against me that you're going to be all prepared to face the real world now." The redhead dead panned. Kai scowled and turned away, his brother pulled him into a fierce hug though. "Black Dranzer's data has been analyzed and sent over...there's no need for you to be here anymore...now leave before your heart can no longer heal from this madness." Kai nodded, tears filling his eyes.

"I always leave you here...even after I promised to take you away."

"I'm going to come too...I'll just be a little late."

"You never could show up on time." The other agreed lightly.

"It's a curse." There was silence for a moment, and the watchers felt tears sting their eyes. Tala truly meant the world to Kai. He was his dearest friend and family. He was a guardian and a cheer leader, but he was most importantly- just Luka. The boy who had always been there and had never once had any doubt in his heart for him. "When we first met...you were my world." He murmured softly. "I couldn't be anywhere without you remember?"

"You'd start crying." Kai laughed, though his voice was weak. He was struggling to hold back the floodgates.

"I'm a bit bigger now, I don't cry as much – nor as often...and I'm used to you going...but now it seems you can't help but cry whenever you leave me." It wasn't truly a tease, it was a mere observation. Kai glowered at him though and wiped his eyes.

"You can't die while I'm gone." Tala beamed brightly at him.

"I won't. They need me if you're not here."

"Don't let them kill you."

"I'm not going to die-"

"No! Don't let them take away your heart and destroy it...don't you dare let them do that to you." Tala nodded.

"Get there safe...I'll log into your normal comm. Session and be with you the whole while. I'll hack over to Anna and have her join in too."

"You sure this hasn't been recorded...they'll kill you..." Kai looked up at the camera fretfully, but Tala just beamed.

"It'll be like it never happened." And the screen vanished just like that.


	29. The Lady Bird On The Lake

**Windstar: **Thank you very much to my kind reviewers. I truly appreciate it. This is the Lake Baikal section of the story and shortly there after. There are only two more chapters after this. Chapter twenty nine and thirty. After that there wont be any posts for a while. This story will END next Monday. Humorously enough it will end on Labor Day (in America at least). I hope you all are enjoying this last stretch.

As a warning: While The Pulse is COMPLETE, the sequel to this is not finished yet. I have an inappropriately busy schedule to keep up with in college, and I do not believe that I'll be able to finish the sequel in a timely fashion. Because of this, I leave it to you, the reviewers, to once again dictate whether or not something should happen. I _can _post Lies and Deceit before it is finished. I can do updates on Wednesdays as I had done in the past. I can put up (without a doubt) five weeks worth of chapters. I cannot promise anymore after that. If you do not want me to post it until I can guarantee it will be finished, please tell me. I'm warning you right now that I will not be able to work on it as much as I would like to. It is currently at just over one hundred pages long and it is a very complicated work filled with many twists and turns. I like the way it's sounding, and I hope you will too. However, because of my schedule updates will be few and far between once we get over the first five chapter staunt.

I do not foresee it to be as long as OTT. While it is currently a fifth of the length, I don't see it stretching out for thirty chapters. If you want, I can add a bit of an excerpt from it as a preview to the end of the story. However I truly wish to know what you all prefer. If you think that you'd rather wait until I have finished the story (or at least am comfortable posting it so I know it will be completed) then please tell me. If you would prefer for me to update what I have and then wait for the rest whenever I can make it, then I'd like to know.

The Pulse will not be updated until NEXT MONDAY. After reviewing my chapters, I've decided that I'll spoil the big ending if I update it before then. If you have not read The Pulse yet, please go ahead and do so. There is a lot more insight on the relationship between Kai, Anna, and Tala in it. I will be updating it every week after next monday. During that time I will be working on Lies and Deceit and if I'm comfident that I can finish it in good time I'll post it after I'm finished with posting the interim story.

Furthermore, if you really can't wait for the sequel, I urge you to read Operation Desert Storm. It _is _a huge part of the sequel and it _does _get mentioned often. I might even post it in LAD just because I doubt people are going to want to take the time to run over and read it. I'm not sure I really want to do that though, so for now go ahead and read TP and ODS.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Same as previous chapters.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:**

There was a camera strategically located on the chopper that took the Blade Breakers to Lake Baikal. It was watching the whole scene with avid interest, and so were the watchers who were on the edges of their seats. Many of them didn't even know the event had taken place. They'd never heard of the incidents on the lake, and they'd heard even less about what it was that brought Kai back to his _team._

This camera though, was not one that was shining from the Blade Breaker's point of view. While it still picked up on everything they saw, the worry and anxiety on their faces, and the look of confidence that Kai always had plastered on his face, it was still just that, a cold representation of a very emotional moment. So they were annoyed to say the least when this too had a commentary from Anna, and not just her, but Tala too. They were annoyed, when they found out that their heart felt words and their heart wrenching comments had been nothing more then a plan that had already been set up for them to experience.

_Go easy on them brother, you don't want to lose them completely...I know you_. Tala warned softly, his voice quiet and calming. He sounded oddly encouraging, as though he wanted Kai to do whatever he had to do to stay a member of their team.

"Quiet." Kai whispered back, his voice barely heard on the camera (which Tyson had decided was edited for their benefit. The Blade Breakers approached, coming to him with frantic pleas, and begging for him to listen to them. He silenced them with a look and then with a deep breath he said started his own feat of wonder: "Ever since that day that I became a…ugh…bladebreaker. I was thrown in with a bunch of no talents."

"No talents huh?" Tyson shouted, his voice strained as he finally seemed to have gotten to the end of his rope with his dearly beloved _Captain. _After destroying the All Starz and pummling the White Tigers, Kai had clearly gotten on his bad side.

"Now is the time to finally prove my superiority. By beating the Blade Breakers at the one thing they love most. I don't care about championships, titles or trophies. All I want to do is increase the strength of Black Dranzer, and become the most powerful blader ever! All I have to do is defeat my dear old team. It's not official, but it'll do." It was as narrowly close to the truth as he could possibly get. He didn't really care at all about beating the Blade Breakers, that wasn't what this was about. In fact, he'd already decided to lose, because he needed to get back on their team. He did in fact want to increase Black Dranzer's power though, because by doing that he could increase the statistics and numbers on the Black Dranzer Server Two. Once that was done, the ISA would have a machine worthy of tearing down Boris' control and breaking the man for all he was worth. Of course, they didn't know about that though, so he said nothing about it.

"Kai…why!"

"To become the best, one must defeat the best." He replied vaguely. It had been so long since he'd actually beybladed with his full strength against someone that didn't stand a chance, and he was more then tired of pulling back in all his battles.

"But Kai…" Kenny was ever the whiner and he still didn't understand what was going on. For as smart as he claimed to be, he didn't understand how intelligent his Captain was, and he didn't trust him at all. It was all that Kai had asked of them. Trust him. Trust his words and his advice and they'd be fine, but they didn't trust him and they threw it back in his face.

"No Kenny! If our old buddy Kai wants to have a fight, then he's got it!" Tyson was pissed off and he was rearing to do some damage. He wanted to see his Captain fail, and he wanted to see him fail _now._

"Tyson!" Rei shouted as he reached forwards to stop him. Rei was probably the only one who ever could have figured anything out. He was the only one who probably knew Kai the best. He'd been his roommate through all those months of training and fighting. He had experienced everything that Kai had during that year or so of practice, and he probably trusted the teen more then any of the others ever had.

"Back off Rei!"

"No chance of that dude. When I was with the White Tigers, things were a lot different back then. I was afraid all the time; I didn't know what it meant to have a real teammate or side. I'm not going to let Kai make a mockery of everything you guys mean to me." Or not. Rei seemed more irritated then anyone, and it was probably because of the constant storm of betrayal that Kai had sent their way.

_You really pissed them off good_. Tala quipped and Kai grunted in response. (If he had said something he'd have looked clinically insane and he wasn't about to give them that fuel to the fire).

"The same goes for me. I always thought that you were apart of the team Kai, even though you never wanted to admit it. I always thought you felt a little something for us!" Kenny shouted, he looked like he was about to cry he was getting so worked up.

"Heh, sorry chief, didn't feel a thing. Except a little indigestion when you started off on one of your speeches. Now where's the fourth stooge hiding. I can't afford to loose another day with _my _busy schedule." Kai had been wondering that from the start it seemed. His eyes kept flicking back to the chopper and he looked rather concerned for a brief moment that something may have happened to the blonde.

"We'll try to make it quick." Tyson growled, not answering his question.

"Wouldn't want to mess up your calendar!" Rei was equally annoyed and he just had to throw it in because his temper was reaching the boiling point.

_Hell hath no fury like a kitty scorned. _Kai bit his lip in an attempt to not chuckle at the internal commentary Anna provided.

"You're finished Kai!" Kenny shouted.

"Oh I think my new buddy, Black Dranzer, and I might disagree with you. Come on! I've been watching you through all our matches. I know your moves better then you know them yourselves." Kai rolled his eyes, and it was the truth. On his worst day he'd still be able to defeat them, Black Dranzer aside, he knew them inside and out, and he knew just how they operated.

"Yeah? Then try some of this!" Tyson shouted, and within moments two blades were slamming onto the ice, circling around each other and cutting into one another. Kai actually had the arrogance to look bored with the whole thing. Particularly when Kenny's _blade _tried to compete. He dispatched it from the ice without even thinking about it. it was the only time he'd ever seen the brunette fire a blade and he was clearly better on a computer then he was at the dish.

"No way! Oh…I'm sorry I let you guys down." Kenny moaned as he looked at his still blade.

"Yo chief. It aint nothing. It's time to show Kai how to dance with the Drigger!" Rei was picking up slang in his time with them, and he'd somehow digressed from an articulate Chinese boy who always spoke properly to the rather idiotic slang that Tyson's grandfather was known for. Kai actually scoffed when he heard it, and in real life Rei mumbled something about how stupid he sounded.

"And my staple of evil bit beasts hate to dance we would rather win! Dark lightening attack!" Kai shouted as he pulled up one of his number to fight.

"How could you use other people's bit beasts as if they were your own?" Rei shouted in dumb shock. He didn't look like he knew whether to be angry or dismayed.

"Like this, _Trihorn_!" The bitbeast roared from his blade rushing forward and tackling the white and green blade for all it was worth. The blade went skidding across the ice, and fell completely still.

"No, Drigger! I'm out guys!"

_Well that didn't take long...Ease up on them or you're not going to be able to have a reason to go back, you're going to ruin everything._ Tala warned.

"Chill out Rei, I got it all under complete control! Kai's not taking a step off this frozen pond until I'm done with him. It's time to teach you a lesson Kai." Tyson growled as he stared into Kai's red eyes. The boy hardly believed in his stupid cries for victory, and in all honesty there was no reason for him to, he knew he could win the fight. His goal here was to make the Blade Breakers wake up and face the music.

"Zip it and fight!"

"I'll let my blade to the talking!" The two blades danced. Dragoon slashing to the right and then zig-sagging to the left, but every time it looked like it would connect, Black Dranzer skirted away, twirling with an elegance and a vengence.

It was playing with him, just like how Kai was playing with Tyson. It knew it's master's will, and it knew that it wasn't going to win just yet, it was going to bide it's time. So it skipped around and ground against the blade and then backed off and danced around some more. Tyson was constantly in a game of chase and he was constantly being over run. He wasn't getting anywhere, and he was growing steadily more and more impatient.

"Yo Kai!"

"That's my name…" Kai mumbled as he let out a sigh. Tyson was no where near his level. The key problem that everyone wasn't realizing was the simple fact that just because a Bit Beast is there, it doesn't make the blader blade better. Tyson having Dragoon didn't help him win the first time against Kai, and just because he had Black Dranzer didn't mean that it was the bit that was helping him win so easily.

They were using Black Dranzer as a scape goat, saying it was all the bitbeast's fault, but he hadn't once called upon the fire demon bird. He hadn't once called it to attack them. He had simply sat there and out bladed them stroke for stroke. The Blade Breakers needed to realize that there were people who were by far much better then them, and they needed to start figuring out how to beat them despite the difference.

"Let's do it Dragoon, give it all the stuff you got!" Was Tyson's mighty battle cry which was completely and totally revoked by Kai's extremely bored tone.

"Oh I'm so scared, Black Dranzer – Neutralize!" Only now did the bird come out of hiding and attack the blade, striking it in a fury of strikes that made Dragoon skip and slide across the ice.

"Now there's something I didn't expect…" Tyson murmured to himself as he stared at his wobbling blade.

"Is that all you've got Tyson!"

"Now there's a good question…"

"Take a little breather while I unleash the fire storm of _my_ dark bitbeasts!"

_Chill out Kai you're gonna ruin this! _Tala actually was starting to sound reasonably concerned, as he stared at the flurry of attacks that were all but demolishing Tyson's blade. Kai was tense as his eyes watched the results to which his former teammate exclaimed not moments later:

"No…I'm wobbling!"

"Attack now! Don't you see, only now can I finally have a taste of true power, and I won't give that power up ever!"

_Kai, snap out of it or I'm going to snap you! Don't let that damn bird into your head, you're not supposed to win this remember? _Tala hissed, a hint of panic in his voice as it was becoming all to obvious that Kai was growing more and more out of control.

"This isn't good…" Rei whispered as he stared at the battle that was getting increasingly obvious on who the victor was going to be.

"We've lost him…" Kenny was all but shaking in his horror at the sight.

"This is too weird. Come on Dragoon! Come on…Dragoon…Fight it! Nooo!" Tyson's eyes were wide as he stared down at his still blade. He looked like he would start to cry, the fact he'd been beaten so brutally and so easily was making him quiver in his horror.

"He beat us so easily…"

"Without even breaking a sweat." Rei looked over at his former Captain, miserable and feeling horrible.

"Kai…no…no!" Tyson screamed and punched the ice for all it was worth. His angrier palpable and his spirit broken. He felt worse then he'd ever felt in his life. "Kai, how could you do this?"

_Sacha what the hell is wrong with you snap out of it. _But nothing could stop him now, he was laughing uncontrollably, the dark blade spinning out in front of him. He laughed louder and louder, clutching his sides he was laughing so hard. "The best! I am the best! I beat them all, one by one. Soon I'll be in control of every bit beast on the planet. After adding your three to my collection, no one will be able to challenge the bit beast army that I'll have at my finger tips!" Kai laughed and laughed. His eyes were crazed. It was one of the few times he'd battled with Black Dranzer without Tala by his side to reign him in if the bird took control. It was one of the few times that he'd ever used it for such a length while expecting to lose. The bird wasn't giving in. It wanted to win. It was going to dig its talons into his skin and rip out his soul if it didn't...and he was doing nothing to stop it.

"Kai don't!" Tyson screamed when he saw his bitbeast starting to rise from his blade and travel over to the black and green blade in Kai's palm.

"He's really doing it!" Rei's eyes were wide with shock as he started to feel the familiar heart ache of his beyspirit being ripped away from him.

_You're acting just like Boris._ Tala growled, and Kai actually flinched at that. The smile fading from his face as he watched what he was doing. If he did this, then there would be no turning back. The ISA was going to lose if this team lost. Boris would destroy everyone in that Beystadium when the order was issued and everyone was going to die...

"Kai, leave them alone! You already won isn't that enough?" Kenny shouted.

"Winning isn't everything. I thought you knew that. I guess you need to win a couple times before you get that lesson." Kai said quietly, forcing himself to roll his eyes even as the steady stream of transfer energy grew slower. He was trying to take his time, he needed an interruption...and he got one.

"Hey wait! Air incoming!" Max out of nowhere sent Draciel down and knocked it into Black Dranzer – stopping it from stealing the bey spirits.

"Looks like you updated your blade. Not that that'll make a difference!" Kai snapped as he sent it out into battle once more, although the quick flurry of attacks had been reduced and it wasn't with the extreme precision it had been at before.

"Don't listen to him Max, you show him!" Rei yelled as he cheered for his teammate, the others quickly shouting out their support for him.

"Well well, planning to save the day Maxie?" Kai teased even though it looked like he was back in control and he was more then ready to accept defeat.

"You'll never break the team spirit of the Blade Breakers Kai." Max recited it as though it were a pledge and Kai actually rolled his eyes. Back in control or not, he still though his teammates were morons sometimes.

"You sure got that straight Max!" Tyson cheered excitedly as the two blades went head to head. They clashed and they slammed into each other and they collided over and over again.

"Hey, fancy meeting you guys here. Now Kai, just what is your problem?" Max asked after a friendly wave back towards his friends.

"Maxi…you're simply no problem for me. Go Black Dranzer!" He quipped as he brought his blade about and started to slam it into the green blade over and over again. They ground together, sparks flying every which way as they slammed into each other over and over again.

"It's going to be tougher then you think. Draciel Defense!"

"You're wasting your time here Max...Oh no!"

_If that wasn't the fakest cry I've ever heard. _Anna's dry voice muttered as he was bounced off of the green blade. He was actually willing Black Dranzer to slow down and stop attacking, and the bird was listening...just.

"It takes more then evil powers, bitbeat slaves and a boatload of over confidence to beat us Kai!" Max said with more bravado then he'd had in his entire life.

"Says you Max! Full attack my bit beast army!"

_We really need to work on your battle cries, if that's not the lamest one yet- _Anna commented, earning a few laughs from the watchers.

"You're stubborn Kai, but not stupid. Give it up." Max puffed up his chest, his smile bright on his face. He honestly thought that he was going to win and that he was going to defeat Black Dranzer at it's full strength.

"I'll never give up. Not with my power!" _Then it was followed up by that one._ Tala answered his girlfriend back since Kai certainly wasn't replying. Though it was said light heartedly – he was relieved that Kai had had the sense knocked back into him. "What's going on? I know you can beat this weakling Black Dranzer…"

"Make your move Tyson he's left himself wide open!" Max hollared as he looked back at the Japanese boy.

"What? Dragoon's down for the count!" Tyson clearly had no idea what he was talking about, and neither did Kai who was raising an eyebrow at them in confusion.

"I wasn't talking about Dragoon!" Max said suggestively with a wink.

"Oh I hope I still have it…yeah! Dranzer. Watch out. I bet Dranzer's real angry. " Tyson was mumbling and it didn't seem like Kai had caught it because he made not motion that he'd heard. The other two listeners though heard and they were mubling to themselves.

_Did he just say what I think he said?_

"This isn't right. I should have won this battle easily…" A blue blade snapped out and made a b-line straight for Black Dranzer, knocking into it and shredding it for all it was worth. "What. That looks familiar." For a moment Kai looked extremely hopeful, or perhaps wishful was a better word.

"I'll bet it did. You used to know it quite well. That ticked off flash of light was Dranzer!"

"Dranzer…how dare you bring that here." Kai's face dropped instantly. Instead of the mocking look he'd had all the while, he actually looked very pissed off. His eyes sharpened instantly and he looked furious for a moment. His whole body was shaking with a rage unrivaled. He was glowering with a massive amount of energy.

_Don't tell me those bastards actually touched that chicken..._

_Man Kai, you never even let the boys blade with Dranzer before..._

"Looks to me like you're ashamed to see it. Well it feels your shame. Trust me. I know what it's going through. Well that all ends right now! ATTACK!" Tyson ordered, and the blade hesitated. Kai's finger's twitched slightly and it shot forwards, breaking through Dranzer's defenses.

_What they don't realize is the fact that Dranzer listens to Kai unequivocally. By bringing her onto the battlefield, all they've done is made it so Kai defeats himself instead of them defeating him. Kai's the one giving orders now, not Tyson...the fool. _Tala sighed.

"Dranzer's not _that _tough." Kai murmured, though it seemed to be forced from his mouth unbiddingly, never in his life had Kai ever said anything bad about his blade.

"Maybe he is Kai. Maybe you've always just underestimated him." Tyson bit back snootily.

_It's a her... _Tala muttered annoyed.

_How _do _you know? _Anna teased.

_Well, it's a little thing called the birds and the bees-_

_I get the bird, but where do bees come in?_

_I never did figure that out...Where _do _bees come in?_

_In America girls are sometimes called birds..._

_And bees _do _sting..._

_That's kind of a messed up way to look at things._

"Will you just _shut up _the both of you?" Kai hissed quietly under his breath as discretely as he could. They were giving him a headache!

"Just like _you've _always underestimated us." Max piped up.

"It's time!" Then in a great flurry of lights and powers, all the bitbeasts on the lake climbed from their blades – despite being knocked down... and struck at the evil blade with as much as they could muster. Their masters screaming their passionate cries the whole way. "You'll never be able to beat us as a team, no matter how many bitbeasts you steal away."

"That's not true." Kai muttered more to himself then anyone else.

"Who are we?"

_Oh dear God they're not going to-_

"Bladebreakers!" The whole team shouted with excitement.

_I officially hate these kids._ Tala muttered with dispassion clear in his voice. And with that, the ice started to crack into a million pieces. Kai stared at his defeated blade for a while, clearly thinking about something as he looked at it.

"Hey the ice!" Tyson eyed the broken floor.

"Jump Kai!" Max yelled in horror.

"Can't be… I shouldn't have lost like this. Not you. Not you. You were so strong. You were supposed to be a winner, but you're a loser. Just like the rest, a loser, just like me. Nothing but a loser. My team never lost…" Kai's eyes were frantic, his fists clenching at his sides, he was hyperventilating. Black Dranzer had dug her talons into his soul deeply, and she was making him regret the loss greatly.

"Come on!" Max screamed.

"Jump Kai!" Kenny shouted as he frantically watched the ice cutting away around the teen who looked to be in a state of shock.

"Hurry!" Tyson called

_Kai you need to jump, forget about the blade right now, I know how it feels, but you need to forget about it and jump, you're going to die._

"Go away…leave me be." Kai mumbled back, ignoring him completely.

"Kai, forget everything. Just grab my digits dude!" Tyson shouted as he reached his hand out for the teen.

"Hurry!"

"You really want to save me? All the lousy things I've done…said to you." Kai looked like a child again, his eyes wide with torment. He didn't seem to understand. She wouldn't let him understand.

"We'll talk later, now shut up and grab."

"H-he's not going to do it!" Rei looked petrified.

"Sure he is! He finally gets the word team!" Max said hopefully.

"No matter what you think we've always been there for you." Kenny added, and it just made matters worse when they thought about how they had abandoned him in the hospital...how when he did need them they left him. They weren't always there for him. They left him and they screamed at him and called him so many bad things.

"Even though you _are _a high fidelity thug. Come on, Kai, take my hand!" Tyson yelled.

_Come on Kai, don't be an Abbey kid anymore, go with them._

"I don't know…I don't know if I can change." Kai whispered, thinking most likely about all the things he'd done recently.

"Reach out Kai!" Rei called painfully. The others shouted hopefully, and finally he looked up.

_Just go with them, we don't care what happens afterwards, as long as you're safe! Just go with them!_

"Hey guys…I'm…I'm so sorry." He held out his hand, and a look of panic crossed his face. _Kai? Kai what's wrong?_ "I think I'm frozen to the ice."

_Oh well now's the perfect time to notice that!_ No one could deny the fear that was evident in the redhead's voice though. He sounded genuinely concerned for his brother.

The whole team though grabbed onto him, pulling him with all their might and just as the ice started to crumble, he was pulled to safety. He stared back at it in dumb shock, clearly surprised by what he'd seen and what had just happened. "Can't believe I came that close to…" He was shaken out of his reviere though by Tyson who was smiling at him.

"So…what do you say?"

"We could sure use you for the finals." Rei added hopefully.

_I don't get your team, first you beat the shit out of them and then they want you back? They're kind of odd._

"Scratch that Kai, we _need_ you for the finals…Kai?" Kenny begged with pleading eyes, but Kai was silent.

"You okay?" Tyson asked as he looked at him...Kai didn't look up for a moment, his mind still lost in thought.

_You alright bro? _Tala whispered softly, as Kai's eyes looked up to meet Tyson's gaze.

"I gotta make things right." Kai said softly as he looked up at his teammates. Understandably though, he was feeling a bit under the weather, and now was not the time for tearful reunions. He had let the demon bird take over him once again, and like before he was in a daze as he tried to collect himself.

"I dig. Don't forget this." Tyson threw the blue blade over towards him and the teen caught it easily enough. He looked down at it, the familiar feeling bringing a bit of light to his eyes. " I think Dranzer would be happier to be back with you. Besides Dude, Black was never really your color." He nodded curtly before turning around, glowering at the chopper, and directing orders to the pilot.

_What are you going to do? _Anna asked, and Kai shrugged

"Take it to the ISA and get another copy done and then pass the copy along to Boris as a going away gift...I might just blow a few things up just like I did the last time." He hissed as he climbed into the chopper and they took off.

_That's all well and good...but you do realize you just left your team with no way back right? _Tala queried with a bit of a laugh.

The scene changed, and when it did, the watchers had to admit, Voltaire was doing a damn good job of not appearing too smug. He was looking at his grandson who was standing not too far away with a nonchalant expression on his face. He looked perfectly content with everything that had happened so far, and he was at ease at long last.

The old man was at ease seeing his grandson so well off. It was a nice change of pace. Kai had appeared out of the blue after his run in with Boris and had told him that he was leaving, and that he wasn't going to be visiting again until after the Championships. The man had nodded, knowing that the teen was going to be diving head first into everything and that he was saying goodbye as a formality more then anything else.

Still though, the look on his face when he heard just what had happened had made Voltaire very pleased. Finally Boris was starting to get what was coming to him. After Aya and Niko's murder, the various cases of abuse and child endangerment, and at long last Mikhail's death, the man was at the end of his rope. He wanted to see the man hanged, and it was high time that it happened.

Kai moved towards him in a swift motion and said goodbye, giving the man a hug before turning and walking out of the house. Voltaire watched him go with a heavy heart, knowing that until this was over everything was going to feel like their feet were dragging on and on. It was time for this to be over...and he had to admit he couldn't wait for that to happen.

There was a beep, and he was informed that Boris was here to see him. He looked up when the door opened and he greeted the man pleasantly enough. He knew what was going to happen, and he also knew that he couldn't let up on his end of the game. He needed to make sure that everything worked out the way he wanted it too. So he had to play the game...

"Kai...is gone." Boris started, shifting awkwardly as he looked at his boss.

"_What_?" The man hissed, his temper rising as he stared at the man.

"He had a meeting with the Blade Breakers...and then he came back and destroyed our camera systems. He blew it all up, we have no surveillance at all at the Abbey...and then he left." That had been Kai's tour de force. Destroying the computer monitors had been Anna's idea, and it had been brilliant.

The watchers themselves could hardly believe what an ingenious idea it was. The monitors may have been destroyed- but the tapes were still running. Everything was working perfectly fine, but the people at the Abbey hadn't figured it out yet. So even though everything was still working, people were making mistakes now. They didn't know they were being watched.

"You let _Kai_ get away!" Voltaire shouted as he slammed his hands on the table. Boris blinked, looking sufficiently abashed.

"He wasn't worth the effort. Trusting him was a mistake and we have no further use for him, especially now that Black Dranzer is back in our hands." Boris said as he tried to convince the man who clearly had no faith in him.

"Are we still on schedule?" Voltaire hissed as he glared down at him. He wouldn't accept failure.

"Of course. I've made some…alternate arrangements, and we're proceeding exactly as planned. You have my word."

"That's fine, but Boris. The next time you fail, I shall not be so forgiving."

"I understand Voltaire."

Back at the Abbey things were running less then smoothly though. There was a huge rush of chaos as people were running this way and that. Kids were tripping over themselves as they rushed to get out of Boris' way. The man was absolutely seething. He didn't like being reprimanded by his superior and now he was even more pissed off then ever before.

He threw open the doors to the training room and glanced down at Tala, Ian, Bryan, and Spencer who were staring up at him with determination. They had been prepared for this for years, and now everything was starting to come to a close. They were all prepared for this, and they couldn't wait for it to take place.

Kai had been too kind when he had stayed for as long as he had, but now things were the way they should be, and they were ready to get the ball moving. They all had things they needed to do and they were more then prepared to take care of it. It was time for the countdown on Boris' fate to start.

"Alright Demolition Boys you know what to do. Let it rip!" They shot their blades out and Black Dranzer's blade fed bit beasts into each one of their own. Tala hadn't been too pleased with the idea when he'd heard it. He had complained and said that nothing would make his blade better and that the new beasts would throw off his weight, but Boris had ignored him and moved on without even a thought. He had commanded them to do this, and there was to be no question on how things were going to turn out. Everything was going to be alright. "By taking these captured bit beasts into your beyblades you will have greater power by which to serve the cause. You'll need to be at full strength for what lies ahead. The final stage of our plan is nearly upon us, and you my chosen ones are the key. In the past you have only used one tenth of the power at your fingertips, but now is the time to cut loose! Bio-Volt is finally ready to take its place as the one true unopposed ruler of all mankind. But first, we must find and conquer all of those who would dare to stand in our way. We must stay strong and resolute. Let us begin our task!" Boris shouted excitedly. He was loosing his mind, and they were all there to watch. It didn't matter though, everyone was set up and in position. Everything was counting down for this one moment. They were going to show the world the meaning of a revolution.

"Our power and strength are yours to control" They shouted back in response, knowing it was expected of them.

"And what will you do with this great power?"

"We shall defeat those who oppose Bio-Volt!"

"Then go forth and do battle in the name of Voltaire!"

"The world will kneel at the feet of our master." They chorused in unison. Then Tala stepped forwards, his eyes unflinching with fake loyalty.

"The Demolition Boys won't let you down." He said easily. It was hard to believe that in a few short days everything was going to be over and they were going to be given peace at long last. They wouldn't be letting Boris down...they would be _destroying _him completely, and Tala had a lack of caring as to what happened to him.

Meanwhile though, Kai had returned to the hotel room, and the Blade Breakers were grilling him as they tried to understand just what was going to happen. Everyone was talking animatedly, trying to figure out what their next plan of action was. They were talking so quickly that they hardly noticed the distinct ease and acceptance that Kai was exuding.

This was it. The watchers had finally taken notice. After all this time, they understood what was going on. Kai was sitting before them, his soul bared. He would tell them anything in that moment. He wanted to be their friend, and he had gone back to them to have their friendship. He wanted to stay with them, and he wanted to continue being with them. He was calm, cool, and collected. He was trusting...and he was there to be there ally at long last.

"Actually having Kai switch teams is the best thing that could have ever happened to us." Kenny decided as he scratched his head.

"You're kidding right chief?" Tyson asked as he stared at him with wide eyes.

"Kai's been trying to keep his distance ever since he joined the Bladebreakers by forming an invisible barrier between himself and us. It took becoming our enemy to miss being our friend, and now that the barrier is broken Kai's become a true member of the team!" He said as he turned to smile at the older teen. Kai sighed, and he placed a mask slightly back on his face. He needed to tell them just enough so that they would be understanding, but he couldn't tell them everything...he would wait to do that for later. He couldn't tell them until everyone in the Abbey was safe.

"Okay, I'll tell you everything I know, but you're not going to like what I have to say." He hesitated briefly, and took a deep breath. "The Biovolt corporation is just a front for a secret organization that plans to use beyblading as a means to take over the world. The secret base below the Abbey contains a training and research center. Volunteers are recruited under the assumption that they will be honing their skills to become championship beybladers, but really they're being brainwashed into believing that defeat is the ultimate forms of humiliation. The goal is to have them block all emotions from their mind except for the will and power to win at all costs. Lesser skilled candidates are then weeded out so that only the higher skilled ones are left within the group. The remaining candidates will remain and be trained into perfect soldiers for Bio-Volt's bid for world domination. Also Boris has been creating his own species of bitbeasts to use as a weapon in his war on mankind. Not just simulations, but living breathing bitbeasts born from the DNA of the real thing. This man made creatures have been trapped into beyblades and sent into battle with existing bitbeasts in order to capture and merge with them. Only the strongest beybladers are able to control these unpredictable creatures which is where the Demolition Boys come in." The end had turned into a commercial that was completely bragging on the Demolition Boy's skill, but it was hard to describe it as anything else. It had been fact. Everyone knew it too.

"They want to turn our bitbeasts into monsters!" Max asked, wide eyes. Kai grimaced as he clearly thought about Wolborg, Falborg, Seaborg, and Wyborg...they weren't monsters. They were dear friends...but he couldn't explain that either.

"Wow, for once I'm actually glad to be stuck in this laptop." Dizzi commented lightly as the others tried to figure out what to say.

"So basically what you're saying is that each one of their beyblades are just as dangerous as Black Dranzer." Kenny groaned.

"It sounds like we might be seriously in over our heads on this one." Rei moved across the room and sat down. Things were getting to be completely out of control and fast!

The watchers couldn't believe how everything was turning out. Besides the Blade Breakers who knew what was going to happen, the others were listening to this conversation in awe. They hadn't known that the current champions had gone into battle with all of this knowledge...they themselves had been left completely out of the loop.

"Gee…what was your first clue?" Dizzi snarked, and was ignored easily

"Uh…uh..Kai. There's just one more thing. Boris told us that you were once apart of the team that trained below the Abbey." Tyson didn't seem to want to ask that question, but Kai wasn't bothered by it. He'd been expecting it in fact.

"Mmhmm…That's correct."

"Whaaa? Dude, no way. How'd you get mixed up with these guys in the first place?" Whatever it was Kai was going to say though, was completely interrupted as there was a knock at the door and Mr. Dickenson appeared.

Kai stared up at the man with dislike. Every time he'd worked with the BBASS he'd been screwed. He was not in the mood to talk to the man, but if he wanted to answer some questions for his _oh so wonderful perfect team _then he could be his guest. This whole farce was his idea anyway.

Now that Kai had actually gotten to know the blade breakers, it seemed like he wanted to do the mission even less. He knew what hardships awaited them and he knew the pain they'd be in. He'd discouraged them the whole time because he'd honestly wanted them to quit and leave it to some other team to have to deal with the scorn of the end of the world. Yet Mr. Dickenson had proved to be correct...or at least Anna's data was correct: the Blade Breakers were actually half way decent...and if the Abbey had never existed then they truly would have been the best in the world.

"How much do you know about all this anyway Mr. D…does he know that you trained at the Abbey Kai?" Tyson asked as though it was a great conspiracy. Kai resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but answered affirmatively.

"I know everything that's happened to you since the moment you first arrived in Russia. It's why I arranged for you to come in the first place. It was all authorized on a special BBA plan that was first set in motion on the first day that the Bladebreakers stepped forward." The elderly man explained. Kai glared up at him. Not quite the truth, but close enough. Kai didn't like how close it was though. He was getting pissed off.

"Really? Sweet! But why recruit me?"

"Actually the answer to that question is standing in the hallway right now. I guess that's your cue!" And then suddenly Tyson's father was there. Kai groaned slightly. He hadn't liked the man's involvement in the first place.

The watchers had been surprised when they learned that Kai had tried to fight to have Tyson's father not be the one to be sent on the dig. The teen had said something about kids needing to grow up with their families...and it had touched Tyson deeply when he'd heard it so. Now though, with the man standing before them, Kai could only shift awkwardly as he explained what was happening.

"Not long ago I was contacted by Mr. Dickenson and hired to do an archeological study on the ancient creatures known as bitbeasts. These mysterious animal avatars are said to be as old as the earth itself many in deep hibernation for centuries. By placing their life vessels into objects of great power they could remain hidden until such a time as they were needed. Many of these beasts have recently arisen but others are still thought to be hidden away.

"My crew and I were trying to find artifacts that maintain these sleeping creatures in hopes of studying them further. And just when we felt that we were close to making an important discovery, that's when a man named Boris showed up. He said: 'If you would pardon my intrusion, I understand that you are doing an archeological study on the ancient creatures known as bit beasts? Would you mind if I inquired on your most recent findings?'

"So I asked him why he was interested and he replied: 'Of course. I too am a researcher, but from a strictly scientific point of view. Tell me, what do you think of this? We may have found a way to create our own bitbeasts by manipulating their unique DNA. Of course we will first need to gather up samples of the real thing.' Then he'd just left without saying much else.

"The things he told me seemed impossible at the time. But I changed my mind soon enough when the local police asked me to stop by their headquarters. Where they questioned me and asked me to identify the man. They showed me an old picture and I was told that the man shaking hands with Boris was the president of Bio-Volt Corporation, one of the largest international companies in the world. His name is Voltaire and the police suspect that those two were heading up a top secret criminal organization. I immediately got in touch with Mr. Dickenson, filling him in on these developments.

"He explained that the BBA had been monitoring Voltaire's activities for some time, and now they were convinced that he was plotting to take over the world by sending out an army of powerful bitbeasts created specifically for war."

"Wow, man made bitbeasts are a scientific dream come true…minus the taking over the world part of course. Wait a minute Mr. Dickenson, it must have been you who sent us that video tape, you know the one of Tyson's dad!" Kenny exclaimed excitedly.

"Well done Kenny you hit the nail right on the head. I was hoping you would figure it out eventually." The old man nodded with a great smile. Kai found the whole thing laughable, and in all honesty, the watchers now realized all the lies as well.

Bio-Volt was the Abbey's business deal alone, it was in no way affiliated with Hiwatari Enterprises. The Majestics told them so immediately. They would have heard of it otherwise, but even Kai hadn't heard of the name before. There were so many loopholes and open ended questions. They were answering their questions, but in truth they were just tangling them up more in the web of lies.

"Hang on, this is all majorly bad news and all, but still…tell me…what does all of this have to do with Kai?" Tyson asked as he looked towards his captain.

"My Grandfather is Voltiare. He's using me to collect bitbeasts for his little science project, against my will. " Kai commented, it was slightly true. He never had wanted to collect the bitbeasts, that had been Boris' gig and he'd only gone along with it because he'd needed to keep face. Still, he didn't want to delve deeper into the topic, and he felt bad about slandering his grandfather. So Dickenson saved him.

"Now do you understand my decision, to bring all of you together as a beyblade team in the first place?"

And the answer was no. Not at all.

**Windstar: **Thanks once again for reading and I hope you all enjoy. Don't forget to read the above statements about The Pulse and Lies and Deceit.

Thanks for everything!


	30. The World Championships

**Windstar: **This is the second to last chapter, and by far the longest of all the chapters so far. The last one, on Monday will be the longest of everything. I hope you all really enjoyed this run. It's been a fun one that's for certain. Thank you kindly to all of my reviewrs, I really appreciate you all.

I want you all to do me a favor though. If you like my story, then please go read the starter fic by **Silent Pandemonium. **It's really quite good. All I have to say is if you want to do something for me then that would be great. She (or He) really is doing very well and it would show your support for a great up and coming fanfiction author that you can divulge in when you have time. I have faith in all of you!

Enjoy this chapter, it's the World Championships!

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

Kai was mostly silent on the bus ride back to Moscow. It had been a whirl of a ride, but the Blade Breakers remembered him staring out the window for the most part. He was playing with Dranzer in his hands, avoiding the sharp edges that now they could understand why he seemed so acutely aware of them.

His hands were still healing, and they couldn't believe they'd missed the long scars that were forming on his palms. If he clenched his fists too tightly they would rip open and yet no one seemed to have really noticed that this hands had been hurt at all.

The Blade Breakers felt a feeling of shame go through them. As much as they claimed to have been Kai's friend – and that they'd always be there for him – they weren't. They had abandoned him and they had ignored him when he was there.

He liked to keep to himself so they left him by himself. They barely even took note of the changes in his demeanor. When he had been talking to them before, it seemed like he honestly would have told them anything, and yet he was interrupted time and again and he'd just let everyone else take over because they seemed to want the watchers kept in the dark a bit longer.

For instance, Max's loss of Draciel to Ian had been a simple matter of calculation. The Russian Bladers had gone after Max because they wanted to make it clear who they were going to fight. They wanted Kai, Rei, and Tyson and so that was going to be that. Those were the ones they were after and Max needed to be cut out of the picture.

It had been Kai who had suggested it, even though he'd grit his teeth the whole time. Max was a great blader, but he was not at the level the Demolition Boys could be seen losing against. Rei and Tyson were far superior and they had a very straight forward battle style that would do them well at their match ups.

In all honesty, it was smarter to have Kai win against Tala, but they both knew that with his admitting to Boris that Tyson was better then him, and his continual losses against the redhead, it would serve their purposes better if he lost against Spencer. There seemed to be a lot of losing going on in Kai-land when it came to this mission, and the track record was doing nothing for his pride.

Still though, what they were starting to realize now though, was just exactly _why _Kai had decided to lose against Spencer. He probably could have beaten him, that wasn't exactly the issue. By the time he was done at the Abbey he was able to go head to head with Tala like he used to be able too. He would still lose more often then not, but he was far superior to his blonde _brother._

That too was a matter of genetics. Kai had always been able to learn at a frighteningly fast rate. There was no problem or contest there. So he had been able to pick up on the things he needed to do to advance quickly enough.

What had bothered the Blade Breakers a little was Kai's apparent determination to run Tyson into the ground when the Japanese boy had sneaked into the Abbey. Kai had been training and training and training to defeat _him. _Not Tala, not Bryan, but _him._ It made no sense really. Tyson could see now that he wasn't anywhere near the league his so called friend was in. He knew that now.

So he couldn't believe that Kai had been training to defeat him. Kenny explained it easily enough: it was Kai's way of continuing the allure of the Blade Breakers. He had set the stage. By showing that he himself had difficulties with defeating Tyson, he made it sound like Tyson was already at the same level of blading that Tala was in. So when the two went head to head, it would be understandable if Tala lost.

So Kai had flubbed the answers on his test. He had made Tyson out to be the strongest beyblader around, and Tala had answered the challenge by purposefully moving in a way that made Tyson to appear equal with him. Their first match had been a clear give in. Tala truly hadn't put his heart into trying hard in that one. He'd let the other win and even Tyson had been surprised by it.

However after a few short words from Boris the boy had seemed dead set on winning. He'd only pulled back in the last second. It didn't matter though. They all knew now the reasoning and what had brought the Demolition Boys to where they were that day, and they found themselves feeling shame faced at what they'd said and done towards the boys.

As the Blade breakers walked into the arena for the first time they were met with none other then the bastard and team themselves. Standing before them they looked threatening and powerful, and even now the watchers felt chills run down their spines at the thought of what had occurred.

"We're so glad you could make it…to your final defeat." Boris announced with a laugh as he looked at the team. Kai's eyes snapped to Tala's. The boy blinked slightly, and turned away, now wasn't the time.

"Oh yeah!" Tyson asked as he glared at them hatefully. He took a step forward, but Rei called him back.

"Now is not the time to fight them okay? Too many people could get hurt if we beybattle here." Rei hissed as he glared at him. Tyson conceded, it was true, their battles tended to get...rather destructive.

"They're afraid" Tala snickered as he cocked one head to the side. He either truly found this amusing or was just indulging those around him.

"Afraid?" Tyson's hot headedness was going to get him in trouble the way he kept answering all their challenges.

"Patience Tala, they are nothing more then an insect to Bio-Volt. An insect we shall soon squash in the finals. They are beneath your contempt." Boris chided lightly, snickering all the while.

"You're right sir." Tala intoned, barely taking note of the scowl set firmly on Kai's face. He didn't like the way his brother was cowing to the man, but he knew it was only for a few more days and that wast that.

"Once they are defeated the _world _will bow before us!"

"Boris! You think you've already won, don't you? Well you haven't. You still have to go through us, and we won't let you win! We'll defeat you no matter how powerful you are! Do you hear me? We'll never give up!" Tyson was screaming even as they were walking away. Tala looked back only once, locking eyes with his brother once more before turning away to face the rest of that weeks challenges. They all knew what was going to happen this week...and it was a revolution that was going to shake the very grounds of the world

"Oh!" Kai gasped as he looked up to see Voltaire standing on the balcony level watching the scene with interest. He looked stony faced and indifferent, but Kai met his gaze without much hesitation. They all knew what he was going to say for the sake of this week, but it was still surprising to find out that the man truly had been an ally and had indulged the rude comments for the sake of this mission.

"What, Kai?" Max asked as he looked at his captain.

"My Grandfather." He said simply as he motioned towards the man who still hadn't moved.

"Grandfather?" Tyson asked as he looked up as well.

"That's Voltaire?" Rei murmured as he stared up in shock.

"The man behind Bio-Volt!" Kenny was clutching his laptop as though the man were going to steal it and turn it into one of those monster bitbeasts they'd heard so much about.

"The man you made his grandson a tool for his ambition." Kai mused and the screen faded.

The video was now playing Spencer's match against Kai, and the watchers were gifted with a commentary from Kai's headset that he seemed to wear a lot more often now then he had in the past. Anna was speaking to him from somewhere, and abruptly the camera changed, showing that she was watching in one of the secure viewing booths on the balcony level. She was taping away on the keys on her laptop and she was focusing hard on the match before her.

Not to far away Voltaire had walked down the stairs to meet up with Mr. Dickenson. His body guards were behind him, and people had started to turn and stare as the two stood before each other.

"I'm glad you're here Mr. Dickenson. Now you will witness my greatest triumph!" Voltaire commented with a great smile. To him, his greatest triumph was funnily enough, seeing his very company destroyed for all it was worth.

"I think you underestimate the power of these kids." The man had no faith in the Demolition Boys at all. He never had. That had been why he'd made the Blade Breakers...because he'd never believed in those kids to lose. He honestly and truly thought that the Demolition Boys were going to win and they were going to take the world by storm once they did.

He didn't think that they were going to lose...and do it anyway.

"You've always amused me Dickenson." Voltaire said as he rolled his eyes. He wasn't amused at all though. He looked annoyed. Those boys were important to him and he wasn't going to let some crackpot old fool take away from the courage his boys had. He turned and walked back to his seat – right next to the now blonde Anna who was furiously typing away.

He let his eyes lean down and stare at her laptop where she looked up briefly to smile at him. On her screen was a schematic of the battle and a link that was set up to the microphone and headset that she was currently connected to.

Jazzman called the bladers up onto the stage, and the two started to walk towards each other. Kai was more tense then usual, and like Tyson had pointed out – he was quieter then usual too. He knew what this battle was going to be like, and he didn't like ti.

"Lucky me. I get to teach the traitor a lesson and then take his bit beast from him!" Spencer hissed, and Kai looked slightly hurt by the comment. Probably because he knew what was at stake...he was going to give Spencer his Dranzer. He was going to willingly and knowingly allow Spencer to steal his bitbeast from him. The bitbeast he'd had for so long was no longer going to be his.

"I wasn't interested in being a puppet for Bio-Volt, but clearly you are." Kai answered back softly. He didn't seem to be able to breathe very well as he stood before his old friend.

"Are you ready?" Jazzman shouted out, and the two raised their launchers, staring dead into each others eyes.

_Breathe Kai. Take a deep breath. _Anna whispered softly, and the countdown began.

"Three, two, one, let it rip!"

The two blades slammed onto the pavement and shot straight towards each other. They were both blue, but that didn't mean anything. They were completely different from each other. One a child of fire, the other a child of water, they were polar opposites that were going to fight to the death if they had too.

Max and Tyson were telling him what he already knew, keep Seaborg out of the water. That wasn't the point though. The point was to lose. He was clutching his fists painfully, almost tight enough to break the skin on his still healing hands. His heart had to have been beating a mile a minute as he stared down at the dish.

Across from him, Spencer too looked concerned. This wasn't an experience that he wanted to have to take part in. He was always there to make sure that Kai and the others were alright, that they were happy at the end of the day. Doing this...being a part of this...it was only making this worse...he was going to be responsible for taking away Kai's happiness and destroying it. He was going to steal Dranzer from him.

"Hold him Dranzer!" Kai ordered, though it was half hearted and his mind was running in circles.

_Kai, you need to start breathing once and a while. Calm down...everything's going to be fine. It's only going to be a few days...and you've gone that long without Dranzer before._

Talk about a painful subject. Kai had given up Dranzer to keep her safe from Boris. Now he was giving her back and who knows what could happen during that time?

Kai shot Seaborg straight into the sea, knowing what could happen if he did so. It was a brief hope that the blade would still be spinning, and apparently it was as a whirl pool started to form at the bottom of the water. He'd completely ignored Tyson's warning and had sent the blade straight into the water – because he was going to lose, and he knew it.

"You can't escape my vortex impact." Spencer announced evenly as he stared straight at Kai. As difficult as all of this was, Spencer knew what he had to do. "Seaborg is an ancient whale with control over the seven seas, and Bio-Volt has augmented his power a thousand-fold, and now I will bury you at sea!" Kai look the breath that Anna had been begging for him to take, and made a counter attack just for the sake of the battle.

He knew it wouldn't do any good, but it was better then letting everyone believe he'd just lay down and let Spencer defeat him. He stared at Dranzer painfully. Each time he had to lose on purpose, he had to have felt his heart breaking at the thought of the brave and loyal bird being given such a weak master.

"The great Kai beaten, and it was easy!" Spencer laughed, though his body was rigid. He didn't look pleased at all about what he'd just seen.

Kai though wasn't happy at all. He'd torn the ear piece from his ear and had punched the wall nearest him when he'd finally gotten a free moment. He looked like he was going to cry. His mind was so completely and totally in turmoil that he couldn't believe it.

Before, when he'd lost, Dranzer had never been at stake. In all honesty, he hadn't really thought that there was going to be much of a problem with losing in this, but then he'd remembered what was going to happen when he lost, and now that the game was set, he honestly couldn't believe it.

It made more sense to have Rei lose then it did to have him lose. He hadn't thought the plan out and now that he was standing there on the fence of denial, he felt his heart shattering. He knew somewhere in the stadium Anna was probably going to come find him, but that didn't matter. As the watchers observed his silent turmoil, they too found it hard that he'd gone through with the original plan. If the Demolition Boys had to lose...he would join them.

In the end, he meant more to the Abbey. If he lost, the Demolition Boys would be able to breathe for a few more days in freedom. Once Bryan lost, everything was going to go to hell and back...once Bryan lost there would be no tomorrow.

Footsteps sounded and Kai looked up, staring in dumb shock at the man who he never should have been caught talking to. "Grandfather?" Kai asked in awe. The watchers couldn't believe it. There in the stadium with everyone there to see, Voltaire had approached Kai.

"Well hello Kai. You don't look very happy to see your old grandfather." Voltaire's words were a warning. They were still being watched, and so they couldn't experience the gentle relationship they'd always had. They needed to pretend.

"What do you want? Have you come to gloat over your victory?"

"On the contrary I've come to help you Kai." Voltaire shrugged, and once more Kai's face was awash with confusion.

"You want to help me?" The teen laughed slightly, trying to understand what was going on.

"Why do you laugh?"

"Cause it's a joke! You put me in the Abbey years ago and you raised me to be a weapon not a grandson. Now you're helping me?" He was pleading with his grandfather to follow the script that was already warned to be followed. He didn't want to lose the man now, he didn't want to see Boris retaliate on this old man who had been a quiet bystander unable to do anything for all these years.

"This is my gift to you…fighting together you cannot lose." And there in his hand was the demon bird herself.

"Black Dranzer!" Kai stared at the bird in dumb shock. He blinked in confusion. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Before you destroyed Bio-Volt we updated this bit with our latest technology. Once you and Black Dranzer are reunited you will be all powerful. The championship will be yours, but say the word Kai and it's yours grandson." The watchers could translate it now though. They understood now what was happening. Voltaire was saying the bird was successfully removed from the Abbey. It was no longer there. Somehow the man had gotten a hold of it and it was no longer going to be there for Boris to use even if they did win the championship.

This was their trump card. Even if Boris lost, there was no doubt in their minds that he was going to still go through with his plan. There was nothing to stop him form ordering Tala to wield the server and destroy the walls of cyber space for the purposes of over running the world.

Now though...Black Dranzer was gone. It was free. It was no longer apart of the Abbey. Boris couldn't go through with his plan even if he wanted too...at least not yet. He had the plans for the BDS2 but that didn't mean anything, because it wasn't built. The world had time. They had time to breathe. The real reason Tala had brought the plans over were because of this.

Once Black Dranzer was out of the way, Boris would need to have time to rebuild the server to continue his plan. He would have to leave the Demolition Boys alive for that purpose, and so their lives were safe for a short while.

"I gave up Black Dranzer, I will never use it again." Kai said easily even as a smile drew onto his face. Everything was going according to plan.

"But you can still feel it's power! You know you could quite easily defeat Seaborg with this!" The man all but pressed the blade into the teen's hand.

"Yes, maybe but why here? Why now?" Kai wanted to know why he was being given it now, but Voltaire just responded:

"Because you are the only one strong enough to control Black Dranzer Kai, and because you're desire for power is as great as mine after all, we share the same blood. Of course you must betray the Blade Breakers for me. You will give me their bitbeasts in exchange for the most powerful bitbeast of them all." And Kai smirked. In translation: so it's out of my hands and there is nothing Boris can do about it.

So Kai had lost. He'd lost because he'd been given a certainty and an assurance that no matter what happened, he was going to get Dranzer back. With Black Dranzer in his hand from this point forwards, he knew that there was no way that Boris could continue his plan of world domination until far after the tournament was over.

That being said, he knew that with their own operation in place, Michaels and the ISA would be able to save all of the kids from the Abbey and send all of the guards, scientists, and bastard Directors to jail. Boris had no hope in winning, and that meant that Kai only had until the end of the week to see Dranzer in his hand once more.

So he let Spencer win, he commented here and there where it was necessary, but he didn't say anything truly heartfelt. He let Spencer laugh at him and mock him, and he moved on. He didn't particularly care in the slightest.

Even so, Voltaire himself wasn't pleased with the fact that Kai had chosen to lose. He hadn't been aware of that situation, and in truth it seemed like he honestly thought that Kai would use Black Dranzer to defeat Spencer just to have the win on their standing. So when Boris stood before him and was going over the events of the day, Voltaire's anger and disappointment was pallale.

"Voltaire I don't understand you, the Demolition Boys won the first match. They took your grandson Kai's bit beast Dranzer, I'm surprised you're not more excited." He commented as he stared at the man in confusion.

"We're not here to win Boris, we're here to terrify all those who even think about opposing Bio-Volt." Voltaire responded quickly as he covered for his disappointment.

"In that case, I'll send Bryan into battle next. He has an especially vicious streak that surprises even me. Just ask the scientists who taught him to block every emotion besides hate. It'll be hard to reach them however…they all vanished without a trace."

What Boris didn't know was that the ISA had swooped in and done that not too long ago. He had been confused and unsure about the situation, but he had simply thought it was something that Bryan had done as revenge. The air wielder was standing before them, listening to it all impassively.

"The time for pleasantries is over Bryan, what I expect from you is very simple. Tomorrow there will be nothing less then complete domination." Voltaire said as he looked at the teen. The boy nodded. Rei would completely dominate him...

"Understood."

Back at the Abbey though Tala was shifting awkwardly as he stood before the purple haired goggled headed freak that had caused so much trouble for them all in the past. They were in the laboratory and the man was clenching and unclenching his fists in anger. He turned and stared hard at the boy, his eyes flashing in his fury.

"That bastard Voltaire just gave away that blade without thinking of the consequences!" The man howled as various scientists started to move about the room and forcibly remove the shirt that the teen was wearing.

The teen didn't bother to hide his fear of the situation. One of his hands touched his arm were there were still scars from the glass that had cut him deeply the last time he'd been in this position.

"Sir?" He whispered quietly, looking at the man with wide eyes.

"You need to pick up the slack when it comes to that server now...we're just going to get you ready..." He was being dragged away now, the redhead's breath caught in his throat as he tried to struggle. He knew it was useless though. His eyes were wide with horror as he thought about the fact that he was going to go through some sort of horror just for this man's sick plan.

He screamed, fighting as someone forced a needle into his arm and within moments he felt his eyes start to drop and flutter closed. He lay motionless on a table, his arms were strapped down to the cold metal and a doctor leaned over his body and slowly yet surely started to cut away into his skin.

The screen thankfully changed, coming up once more at the tournament. Tala was barely there...and few could really question why. Those who did see him saw him as more as standing in a daze, not really looking or seeing at anything. He didn't really seem to be aware of his surroundings. He was completely and totally out of it.

Kai himself was looking at him worriedly for the most part of the tournament, his eyes staring at the boy in horror. Blue eyes were lazily slipping closed and it was Spencer who was helping the boy to sit up and knocking him every so often to make sure that he was staying conscious.

"What the hell happened?" Kai hissed as he grabbed onto Anna's wrist in the hall during the intermission. Rei was still mostly out of it because of his injuries, and Bryan was being unusually violent for someone who was losing. He was pissed off. The air blader was physically torqued, and with his current mental state he wasn't able to rein it in like he used to.

Whatever had happened to Tala, despite the fact that Spencer had won, had been enough to make Bryan lose control of everything. Boris had even said it best while the battle had gone on: "Bryan always comes up with clever new ways to show his brutality, I must remember to commend him this time." He too had been surprised at Bryan's sudden display of violence.

Something bad had happened, and the constant daze that Tala was in was not making things better. Kai was hardly able to keep himself stationary as he saw the stumbling step of his brother who could barely conceal the fact that he was out of it and there was something terribly wrong with him.

"Since Black Dranzer's gone...they updated his LXCom and did a few other...additions to his body...tonight their doing more. They've been going nonstop since Spencer's battle...they only paused now because he needed to show face by appearing here." She told him quietly as she leaned against the wall. She was wearing all black today, and under her jacket he could just see the standard hostler and weaponry that was standard equipment for the ISA.

"What the fuck are you doing with that shit?" He hissed as he glared at her. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Tempting isn't it?" She mumbled. "I'm on a mission tonight."

"Doing _what_?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, but Michaels is at the end of his rope. He feels useless with all of this happening now. So the two of us are going to run an easy mission and be back before morning. As for Tala...I've been trying to hack into his chip recently but they changed it. I don't know if I'll still be able to gain access like I used to be able too. If whatever it is they do to him completely takes away his free will...I'm going to have trouble making him lose." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Make him lose." Kai repeated, his voice hollow as he stared at her.

"Kai...there's a good chance he's not going to wake up from this." Her voice was breaking as she spoke. "They're really screwing him over. What if-"

He pulled her into a rough hug and held her close to his chest. Her arms gripped tightly around his back. With all the chaos going on recently there wasn't really any chance for there to be assurances. There were only brief moments like this.

"Everything's going to be fine...you'll see." Though he really couldn't make himself see what was going to happen. His body was shaking and he too was trying to come to grips as to what would happen if everything failed...what would happen if they lost Tala for good just to save the world...?

It would be just like Mikhail, a death that didn't deserve to have happened. Only it was worse...because Tala's body would still be alive, only his soul would be dead.

When Bryan lost like he was supposed too, he finally seemed to be able to breathe freely again. He blinked a few times, and could only stare in dumb shock at the sight that met his eyes. Rei was a mess. Even in present time, he was still hurting from that match.

Bryan looked and felt truly miserable after seeing such a display. He could hardly believe what he'd seen. Sure he'd lost his match, subconsciously or consciously he'd done what he'd been supposed to do, however he'd practically torn his opponent to shreds.

They'd called an ambulance for him and everything. Tyson was more pissed off then he'd ever been in his life at the sight. He clenched his fists as he glared at the team that was slowly walking away. Ian had started to mumble to Bryan that it'd be alright, but it was to deaf ears. Bryan was practically shaking in awe at how far he'd completely lost it.

"Hold on…" Tyson had yelled across the stadium, and the boys turned to look at him. Tala glanced back, his eyes still foggy and blank. He didn't really seem to hear the words that Tyson was screaming at him. "For Rei, for my friends, I'm taking you on Tala! The last match of the world finals comes down to us and you better believe I'm going to let it rip!"

_I hope it doesn't smell to bad_. Anna tried for some humor in the situation, but it was lost. Rei was practically comatose, Tala was in and out of operations that was making him a walking cyborg, and Bryan was losing his grip on reality. A little humor didn't help.

Voltaire was put to the task of dealing with Boris once more, and he wasn't all that happy with it. He glowered over to the man, his eyes staring at him as he punched his desk in anger. "It makes no sense, we've spent millions on your genetically superior bey-warriors."

"We…will persevere!" Boris was biting his lip, knowing that the excuse was feeble. That Bryan, someone who had barely ever lost a match in the Abbey, had been defeated 2-0 by some upstart meant that there was a huge problem. He could hardly believe it. Broken and defeated, Rei had still destroyed Bryan in the ring.

"Your optimism sickens me. I should salvage what I can by terminating your genetic experiments. Your mutant monsters were a waste of animals. They failed at their one and only task." Voltaire threatened as he glowered at the man.

"Begging your pardon sir but it is my belief that you are completely mistaken."

"How dare you? Were your modified vis-goggles malfunctioning during the match?" The man asked as he glowered at the other.

"I see perfectly." Boris hissed, not enjoying the reference when it was all _this man's _fault in the first place for his need of the goggles. That strike to his eyes years back, hadn't helpt his vision one bit!

"Boris…" Voltiare was practically growling in fury.

"Just come with me. It's time to open your eyes." Boris said quickly, as he motioned towards the door.

The two of them climbed into a car and headed over to the Abbey, and as they walked through the dark and damp halls, Voltaire looked like he was going to be sick. All the children were fighting over and over again, and blading with an intensity that was vomitous. He didn't like the looks of this place at all and he rarely travelled down to it if he could help it.

They descended to the lower levels and enter the laboratory, and the watchers hissed at the sight. Tala floating in the green water his eyes closed as machines connected to his body. It was something out of the Matrix and it was all together creepy.

"That's! It's!" Voltaire was sickened, he had never seen his beloved grandchild in such a state before. He'd never seen him while he was being worked on. Boris took his disgust and horror as simply shock over seeing the genius that was at work.

"Let us not speak his name yet. This is a genetic warrior in the army of the just! To give him a name now in the middle of his genetic infancy would only dilute his programming." Boris was completely and totally out of his mind. He had so completely lost it that Voltiare could only stare at him and fumble over his words.

"Programing?" He asked in dumb shock.

"Yes, hardwired cranial saturation, nerve and muscular hyper-strengthening, These are the secret experimental fruits of our Bio-Volt. Used on this subject, they will provide us with the ultimate bey-warrior. A genetic computer whose only program is to win!" Boris announced as he smiled with pride. His research was flawless and his information was limitless. To him, there was nothing better then this child who now could do whatever was asked from him and would comply without fail.

"Excellent. Well done indeed Boris!" Voltaire couldn't think of anything else to do or to say. He needed this man to believe he was still on his side, but at the same time, seeing this beloved child in such a situation was making him sick to his stomach.

The watchers themselves could hardly believe what they were seeing. Tala's body looked slightly different. The scars that had been marring his skin for so long were now almost completely faded, and his looked broader slightly as though he had more body mass then he used too. In only a few short days they'd completely redone this child's body for their own sick games.

"The operation is almost complete, soon our bey-warrior will emerge. Our genetic programming has infiltrated the subject. He is now reborn. Let him hear his new name. Cyber-Tala!"

"Terminating computer program upload…release download ports. Drain incubation fluid." A computer said as it started the countdown.

"Awake! It's a new day! Cyber-Tala!" The green was sliding out of the tank and the teen's feet slowly floated down to the bottom. His eyes opened slightly and blinked futily against the water that was stabbing them with stinging pain.

His feet touched down and he just managed to hold on and catch himself as new weight touched them for the first time. He blinked around, trying to see what was happening, and not really seeming to understand it. There was a loud pop and he hissed, a growl starting to form low in his throat.

"Uh..ah…are you sure about this Boris?"

"Of course I am! This experiment has created the ultimate beywarrior. His only goal is…to win! Now with this technologically advanced beyblade at his command that is precisely what he will do! Now my Cyber-Tala…destroy the Bladebreakers!"

_Luka are you there? _Anna's sweet voice echoed through over the tape and he blinked as he tried to figure out what was happening even as he was being led from the room and away from the chaos that was forming around him. People were poking and prodding him and he was blinking quickly in confusion trying to understand what was going on.

_Who are you? _He answered back, his lips not moving, but his mind responding through the computer set up that was lodged deep withing his brain. It was picking up her connection just as she was picking up his own.

_It's Anna..._

_Anna? _He asked as he tripped and fell to his hands and knees. Someone was shouting, and the watchers stared as Bryan appeared at no where and started ordering off the leeches that were still trying to play with their science experiment.

"Tala?" He asked as he grabbed hold of his friend's arm. The teen looked up at him, recognizing that as the name Boris had called him. He stared in dumb silence for a moment before he pressed a hand to his still wet forehead.

"Bryan?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, it's me buddy. You doing alright?" The teen asked as he helped him to his feet.

"I..." He hissed once more and held his head tighter.

_Everything's going to be alright._

"Everything's going to be alright." He repeated before he blinked once more. Awareness seemed to overcome him and he blinked and stared at the teen in front of him. "I remember everything." He whispered. Bryan let out a sigh of relief.

"That's a good thing buddy." He murmured softly as he pulled the boy to his chest in a hug. "That's a real good thing."

"What's today's date?" He asked as he pulled back. Spencer appeared from somewhere or other and held him out a shirt and some pants to put on over his relatively nude body. The teen did so quickly as the others informed him what had been going on recently. He listened intently, and nodded whenever they said something particularly of interest.

"You've got your match with Tyson tomorrow." Bryan added on, and Tala nodded.

"Alright...lets see what this bitch can do." He said as he smiled brightly up at his friends. "I don't know about you...but I'm ready to get out of here." And they nodded.

"We're as ready as ever fly boy. Lead the way."

The watchers held their breath as the legendary battle prepared to commense. Everyone was gathering at the beystadium. All five-hundred students, all guards, all scientists, all the police and the undercover agents the ISA could muster, and the teams of the world.

Anna was walking through the halls, her blonde hair now died back to it's original color. In her arms were boxes of some-sort, carefully wrapped in colorful paper. On her hip was her gun and around her neck was her ISA ID badge. This was their moment, and it was going to be perfect.

Michaels met up with her and Kai at the entrance twenty minutes before the start of the show, and went over the plan. It was ingenious. During the actually match the ISA was going to slowly be evacuating the stands of all of the students. They were going to be loading them up onto dozens of busses and taking them to the building complex that apparently Voltaire had been building for the past three years now.

It was an area a few hours away that was built specifically with the intention of keeping the kids at the Abbey safe when all of this was over. The guards were slowly going to be arrested and all attention was going to be kept off of them because of the battle which Tala was going to drag on as long as he possibly could.

Hopefully by the end of all things they would be able to get all the kids from the Abbey to safety and have the majority of guards on their way to jail before anyone noticed what was going on. It was the perfect plan.

Tala walked forwards, his eyes focused and his attention never wavering. Tyson moved forwards as well. Kai was biting his lip as he watched his brother. Anna had informed him that Tala was doing fine and that they didn't have anything to worry about, but he still was waiting and watching to see what was going to happen.

_Don't look so intent little brother, your face will stay like that_. And he grinned as Tala virtually had hacked into his earpiece. Everything was going according to plan and he couldn't be happier.

"Three, two, one, let it rip!" The two blades shot out and slammed straight towards each other. Tala's face was impassive the whole while, not really caring much as he stared at Tyson. This was going to be fun. He stayed completely motionless as Wolborg was struck time and time again.

"Yes! Keep the pressure on!" Tyson hooted as he stared in awe at his job at bashing the blade of the best blader in the world. Tala wasn't going to just lay down and die though. He was going to make a show of this. He needed to drag this out for Michaels and that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Computing." He murmured, and suddenly his blade shot to the left and slammed into a tree which instantly started to fall down upon impact. Tyson yelped and ran out of the way, ducking and falling face first onto the ground as he tried to avoid the tree.

"And once again the Demolition Boys have showed their total disregard for the International Beyblade Safety Regulations." Jazzman announced as he watched over the scene. The various teams were glaring at the sight, clearly not impressed, but Tala was impassive as ever.

He needed all eyes to be on him so that the kids could escape. He had faith in the thirty or so students who had joined him at Mikhail's grave to help with their flight, but they still needed to flee and he needed to give them the opportunity to do so. This wasn't so much about Tyson winning or losing at this point, in fact, he could even win this battle, but he wasn't going to.

He knew the plan, and he knew the consequences. He wasn't going to let Boris go to jail, anyway, with the thought that at least he'd won one more championship. He wanted the man to feel completely and utterly ruined, no ifs ands or buts.

_Come on, I'm not wrong about much and I know I'm not wrong about you. _Kai sent the message over the computer channels from the cell phone in his pocket, and Tala picked it up instantly. Even while he was bashing the crap out of Tyson's blade he smiled at the touching comment and let up just a little before picking up the ante.

"Here's a surprise just for you. Let this be the outcome of this match!" Tala announced loudly as he summoned Draciel into the playing field. Max's eyes went wide as his bitbeast came into the battle. Then Dranzer was answering his call. Draciel hadn't lasted too long, Tala didn't have a good grip on that blade, but Dranzer's attack was flawless. The bird had been a part of the young teen's life for as long as he could remember and so it would always answer to him if he needed her. "After this next attack I conclude a ninety-nine percet accuracy rate that you're finished!"

Tyson could only stare as his blade barely managed to land. Kai rolled his eyes at the show of bravado. The attacks had been sub-par and it was all a show for keeping things going. He looked up to the stands. A whole row of students were vanishing out the door, people were hardly noticing and that was exactly what they wanted.

Had Tala wanted too, that attack would have landed one milimeter closer to the edge and Dagoon would have gone spinning out, but the redhead had been accurate on keeping things going, and he wasn't going to stop now.

"Whew...saved by one percent. Hey wait! Those moves look kind of familiar!" Tyson hissed as he stared up at Tala who was laughing. Kai had sent him another rude comment.

_Quit stealing all my moves or I'll think your jealous._

"You don't say? Well, let me introduce to you the nice fellows who taught them to me. You see, it's hard sometimes relying on only one bitbeast-"

_Not when your one bitbeast is as powerful as your own you jerk._

"I figure, the more, the merrier." Tala continued while sending a pointed look in Kai's direction. He was texting him from his pocket so people wouldn't see, and the teen was looking at him with a smirk of his own before he masked it with a scowl.

"Some nerve, fighting me with my friends own bitbeasts."

"Concentrate Tyson, quit the noble act. Come on, you know our bitbeasts moves better then he does – don't just stand there!" Kai shouted as he stood up. Tyson wasn't even moving now and that didn't bode well for him winning.

"Get real Tyson, do you really think _our _bitbeasts like him?" Max added.

_Of course the jury is out on one – it burnt me far to much as a child. _Kai tried not to react to the snotty comment, and was saved when before Anna cut in.

_Will you two stop yammering, my God you're making a joke out of this and some of us are trying to work._

_Sorry Anya._ The redhead replied. Kai returned to looking serious nodding slightly towards the balcony she was at so she'd get his message, and Tala's face was back to being as blank as ever. "Feel the combined power of my bitbeasts blades!" Tala shot forward, cutting into Tyson's musings. .

"You!" Tyson shouted as he pointed straight the redhead who blinked at him

_Seriously? Am I going to get another heart speech?_

_LUKA SHUT IT. _Anna wasn't enjoying his commentary apparently.

"Just you and me, this match, that's all. I'll even forget that you're a lousy bitbeast thief." Kai rolled his eyes, but Tala just frowned. Kai and all the others had been the thieves, he was just reaping the rewards.

_Compute. _"Attack!" He hissed as he shot Wolborg forward. His silver blade moved quickly towards Tyson's white one and Dragoon moved straight at Wolborg. At the last moment, just as they were about to collide, Tala blinked and the blade leaned backwards, already aimed out of the dish. It was so quick and so fast, that no one had seen it as the ice and snow had shot out around the blades.

It was the perfect loss. Kai let out a breath he was holding. At the original angle, Tala's form had been perfect. He'd been completely and totally ready to send Dragoon out of the ring by using it's top as a ramp. Without even realizing it, Tyson would have sent his blade straight up the top of the beyblade and with the spinning occurring, Dragoon would have been flown out of the dish. It had been the perfect move, and Tala had corrected it for the loss just like he'd planned to.

_He actually pulled it off_...Kai texted to Anna, and was intercepted by a rather annoyed:

_Well of course I did, you didn't think I'd actually beat the twerp did you? _Kai just smirked. Even in the midst of all that danger, the redhead had made the perfect win look exactly like the perfect loss. He hadn't been able to do anything, he'd been completely overpowered, and no one had been able to see the truth before because of the snow that was whipping around the blades. It was perfect.

"Hey, no hard feelings Tala." The redhead looked up from his blade and raised an eyebrow. "It was a pretty good match and you tried your best, even if you cheated, now don't you give my friends back their bitbeasts and we'll continue?"

The watchers stared at the present day Tyson who was blushing. After everything Tala had been doing, he just had to go and rub it in his face. Tyson truly was a jerk sometimes to all the wrong people.

"I feel so sorry for you Tyson." Tala sneered as he turned away.

"Pardon?" Tyson could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"I chose not to win this round." The boy admitted easily, and Kai raised an eyebrow. "Since I could utilize the sequence to process your beydata."

_You're such an ass sometimes. _He told the boy who just shrugged as Tyson went on a rampage.

"Oh you chose, you chose not to win this round, huh Tala? Well I choose to beat you again! Just wait till the next round! You can show off as much as you want, but as of right now I'm winning and I dare you to throw whatever you got at me."

"Challenge accepted." Tala smirked, his face oddly pleasant as he thought about the future that was coming his way. In the stands almost two thirds of the kids were gone from their seats, and dozens of guards had already been arrested. The only ones who weren't privvy to that information at that moment was Boris who was staring at Tala like he'd grown an extra head. _Download counter measure program._

"Okay then, give me all you've got, I'm rearing to go." Tala couldn't help but laugh as their blades went shooting out. His soul was lifting, even Kai was having a hard time keeping a smile off his face. Even as Tala was mocking Tyson once more and goading him all the while, the stands were starting to come alive as the busses were leaving the stadium.

Hundreds of students from Balkov Abbey were experiencing freedom for the first time, and their lives were going to be changed for the better from this point onwards. Everything was going the way that they planned it to go, and the brothers of the Abbey were having the time of their lives as they watched the battle take place.

Up in the stands Voltaire was grinning despite himself and Anna was leaning against a wall watching everything with interest. Michaels was with her and he was smiling brightly too.

"They're really going to do this. This is the end." She told him as she looked up at him. Michaels grinned.

"You bet it is. Why don't we head down to the locker room, we'll be all ready and in place for when they come in." He turned to her, and she nodded, standing up straight the two of them started to head down, as the battle below was starting to get underway once more.

The whole stadium was turning into an ice pit and Tala let out a sigh as he breathed the frigid air. He was smiling pleasantly for a brief moment before looking at the ever confused Tyson. He'd done this to waste time more then anything else, and now that they were alone he didn't really concern himself too much with how he looked or acted.

"I told you I felt sorry for you." He said easily. "This is going to be over very soon." _Tell me when we're clear Anna. _He told the girl

_ET is at fifteen._

_Understood_.

"Oh man...where am I...and how did I get here?" Tyson whispered as he stared around him. The camera angle wasn't showing the boy though. It wasn't showing him at all, and after a moment it became clear. His eyes. They were watching everything from Tala's eyes! He was recording everything and storing it in the memory cards they had implanted him with, and so they were actually watching the battle literally through his eyes. The teen was laughing slightly as he shook his head. "Hello? Can anyone here me? Kenny? Max? Hey Kai! Where am I? Hey Tala, I can here you, but where'd you go?"

"Quit wasting your breath, I'm right here. We've warped into another dimension. Open your eyes, do you see anything familiar? When our bit beasts collided we fractured the time space continuem, and we were sent here to finish our battle."

_Quit teasing him, you just froze the area around you, there's no need to mess with him. _Kai scolded lightly.

_Don't spoil my fun little brother._

"But how is that possible?"

"I must say, I'm amazed at how little you know about the power of your own bitbeast...add to that the power of mine!" And Wolborg was spinning, shoot forward quickly toward Dragoon. "Seems like your starting to suck wind." Tala teased as he stared at Tyson who was quickly starting to realize how out matched he was.

"No way, he's trying to phyche me out..." Tyson's pep talk was quickly brushed to the side.

"Oh right, you're one of those stubborn tough guys who thinks their invincible, well lets see what you can do out here in the elements." Tala looked down at Dragoon which was getting buffeted by the storm. "But here's your problem Tyson, as the blader becomes weak, so does his beyblade."

"I've had enough of you!" Tyson hissed as he called out his bitbeast. The dragon stood proud above them all and glared down at Wolborg which didn't seem amused in the slightest. Instead, Tala summoned all of the bitbeasts that were stolen over the course of the tournament and he threw them straight at Tyson who was frozen solid.

It didn't take long for Tala to knock down Tyson's blade. Kai frowned but glanced up at the crowd. Not all the kids were gone yet. He was still wasting time. He needed to keep at it until there was an official call for him to stop. Anna hadn't contacted him so he was going to keep it up.

"Excellent Tala...one more victory and the world is ours." Boris laughed as he stepped closer towards the stadium. Behind him the other Demolition Boys were motionless, they were holding their breath as they watched, they couldn't wait any longer. They wanted this all to be over.

Max ran forwards to help out Tyson, his little fists crashing against it as he tried to break through. He needed to help out his friend and that was that. He didn't want to think about anything else- only helping out Tyson.

"Forget it." Kai told him as he moved forwards. "That tub of ice isn't going anywhere until Tala's finished his battle."

Voltaire himself was smiling as he looked down at the sight, knowing that soon everything was going to be over. "The time draws near and soon we will control all the world's bit beasts...and then my job will be complete." With all the bit beasts in the control of the masters of the world, Boris would have no army. Right now, his so called army was marching off with all their bitbeasts leaving him with nothing. They were all evacuating, and he was none the wiser. Soon everything was going to be over.

"I hate to see you suffer like this, I really do, but rules are rules and we still must finish this battle...are you ready?" Tala asked gently as he looked at the other teen who was still stuck to the ice without even moving. "I haven't quite decided yet, should I put you out of your misery quickly? Or should I make you suffer? Decisions, desisions." He'd said it to piss the other boy off, and it worked because instantly Tyson was on his feet, standing up and glaring at him with a renewed fury. "Make your move, it'll be your last."

"Oh yeah?" Tyson was smiling now. "You're right, I can't win." Tala recoiled. That was not the plan.

"What?" He hadn't expected to beat the teen so badly that the other would readily admit defeat. That was NOT the plan. He barely let his blade do anything, convinced that the other was at the end of his rope. Tyson kept on smiling at him, and he just blinked as he tried to figure out what on earth was going on. He let Wolborg get mashed over and over because he just wouldn't let Tyson lose. He needed Tyson to win and dammit he was so close!

"Hey Tala, I just realized, even though your blade is a hundred times more powerful then mine, I can still beat you, I can. Blading is about passion, and that's my strength." Tyson said and Tala let out a breath of relief. He hadn't completely trashed the kid into losing.

"Don't be a fool, it takes more then passion to win." It takes years of practice, and belief, and understanding, and friends by your side, and things that you're willing to fight for. And all of those things were exactly what it took to lose too.

"Then I guess that you just don't understand blading."

"And you don't think I'm passionate about the sport?" If there was one thing he was passionate about it was this sport. So Tyson could shut his mouth as far as he was concerned. This was his life and his goal and this was what he was going to work on now and forever.

"Huh? What...but...I never...hey, you're just playing mind games with me aren't you? Well I've got a news flash for you pal it's never going to work!"

Tala ignored him though. He didn't care at this point. He just was waiting for the time when Anna said it was time. He just had a few more minutes...a few more minutes to know that all those kids were safe. That was all he had to wait for.

He summoned Wolborg and the great wolf appeared and roared a mighty roar. All the powers of the bitbeasts went to the blade as it glowed with strength and fury. It was going to use up all of it's power and attack on this one miss, and he had to miss for it to work. He summoned up everything he had, knowing that the stadium was full of people who were expecting him to win, and knowing that he was going to let each and every one of them down.

He called forth all the energy Wolborg possessed and he shot it forwards. The ice was destroyed as it bit into cold hard ground. Dragoon vanished as lights flashed far to brightly for the normal person to be able to see through. Tala watched it all without wavering once. He watched his own blade's end without caring.

In the stadium people watched, awestruck. He knew that some people, like Voltaire would think that he lost it and won and they would have to act accordingly, but it didn't matter. He knew he hadn't hit the blade. Dragoon was still spinning.

Tyson glared up at him and summoned Dragoon and sent it straight after Wolborg who had not a hope in defending itself now that all of its power had been exhausted. At the end of all things, the only thing that would still listen to him was Dranzer who was shooting Dragoon with fire arrows designed to slow it down. Tala was biting his lip. He was struggling to keep himself focused on the match in front of him. He couldn't lose...not yet...not yet...he needed more time...

On the outside Michaels got a call on his cell phone and answered it. Anna glanced at him for a moment, and he nodded. He looked back at her and smiled.

"Be right back, there's something I've got to take care of. You'll get a call in a few minutes on this and from there you'll be able to tell our boys it's time to wrap it up." She nodded and took the phone from him as he left. She would never know that would be the last time she ever saw him.

Kai answered Tala's fake cries with some of his own. Truth be told, he really was proud of Tyson. He was fighting far better then anyone had given him credit for. In fact, he was actually on par with someone just under the Maims in true talent. Had Tala been giving it his all, he wondered if Tyson would rise up and meet the challenge. Despite his earlier thoughts, the Blade Breakers were doing far better then he had ever thought they could.

"Nice speech, but it's still just a game where the strong survive – and I'm the strongest blader around, you here me?" He pulled out all the shorts and sent all the bitbeasts straight towards Tyson.

_Luka we're good! Finish it! _Anna called and instantly the overpowering force of the wall of bitbeasts was defeated by Tyson who was shooting forward. He pulled back in the end, letting Tyson break through each and every Bitbeast- sending them all straight back to their blades where they belonged. He let Tyson do all of that because that was the one way to correct the fact that they'd been stolen. Only in battle could the spirits return to their true homes.

The match was over, and he could breathe at long last.

"How could this happen…it's like they all ganged up on me at once. It just doesn't make any sense." Tala mumbled more for the benefit of Boris then anyone else.

"Hey Tala, that was some battle huh? Put er there?" Tyson asked as he moved forwards with a great big smile on his face and held out his hand.

"Yeah." Tala smiled back, truly pleasant. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he could breathe again. He smiled without reservation and shook the teen's hand. It was a fun battle even if he had been holding back.

"No! I have failed!" Boris said in dumb awe as he noticed for the first time what the situation was around him. He was shaking, his eyes wide in horror. Up in the stands Voltaire was in awe. He didn't look like he knew whether to laugh or to cry from relief.

"My life's work…ruined at the hands of a petulant child!" Voltaire said as he thought about how just one beybattle had destroyed all of the Abbey's work.

"And for the good of everyone too, it's over Voltaire." Mr. Dickenson announced as he looked up at him.

"What's that Dickenson?" Voltaire questioned as he looked at him.

"It took a while, but we finally figured out your scheme. If it wasn't for Tyson you and the Bio-Volt corporation would have been free to control everything on this planet. We had to put a stop to your plan." Mr. Dickenson seemed to just be reiterating everything for the sake of the people who were watching. Afterall, Tyson's family still didn't know the truth.

"You are finished. With all the evidence that Mr. Dickenson's collected, the Bio-Volt corporation is history along with anything that is linked with you. The reality is Voltaire, you're facing some hard time." Bruce said as he glowered up at the man.

"It's time to turn yourself in Voltaire." Mr. Dickenson said, in truth: _time to get going._

"Never! This isn't over, it's just a bump in the road." Voltaire hissed as he made a break for it. He had to go before some cop low on his quota decided to add him to the pot.

"Then buckle up. I think the road is about to get a lot rougher." The man announced with a great smile on his face. He didn't know how right he was.

Down below Tala turned around and walked down towards Boris. His face set. He caught Kai's eye before he left, knowing he wouldn't have a chance to meet up with him before the end of all of this. Kai smiled at him, and he smiled back before turning and staring grim faced at the Director who was glowering at him with anger clear on his face.

"You...you disgusting child!" He hissed as he clenched his fists. He caught Tala by the sleeve and tugged him forward. Most people not noticing the blatant act of fury because all eyes had been on Tyson. Kai gasped and moved to go help, but somehow Tala had known he'd do that.

_Stay there! I'll be alright! They're waiting for us in the locker room, don't worry! I'll meet you outside! _Kai's eyes were awash with worry, but he understood and moved back to his team who were celebrating for all they were worth.

Boris dragged Tala into the privacy of the hallway, unknowingly bringing him towards more cameras. He slapped the child hard across the face and the redhead hissed and started to totter before he caught his throat and slammed him up against the wall. The others watched in horror as he started to strangle the teen, and were just about to move to intervene when a gun was cocked and placed soundly on the man's head.

"Don't move." Anna's voice was dark and crisp as she stood before them all. Boris froze, his hand releasing Tala's throat just enough for the teen to slip away and pull the switch on his launcher to turn it into the pistol hidden within. He aimed it too at the director.

"What the hell is this?" The man asked as he stared at the wall where Tala once was.

"Boris Balkov you are under arrest for child endangerment, child abuse, child neglect, fourty seven counts of first degree murder, thirteen counts of second degree murder, manslaughter, two counts of infanticide, and more things then I care to innumarate at this present time." Her voice was deadly calm as she removed a pair of handcuffs from the belt on her waist and tossed them to Bryan who caught them easily.

"What the hell is this?" Boris repeated as he felt the teen cuff him soundly, a bit harder then she had too but the thought process was still there. Anna grabbed him by the collar and spun him around, slamming his back on the wall.

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." She read him his Miranda Rights even though in Russia she really didn't have too, and his eyes widened when he saw just who she was.

"You...you..." He looked at Tala who was still raising his gun to his head without so much as a blink of concern. He didn't look like he was worried at all. In fact, he looked oddly pleased. "You lied!" Boris shouted at the teen who just smiled all the wider.

"Of course I lied. You honestly thought I came back here because I had done what you'd said? You honestly thought after everything you did to me, I would forgive you and let you go with a slap on the wrist. I may be your progeny, but I'm not your _son_." He hissed, his eyes sharp and narrow as he ran a hand through his spiked hair and started to flatten it. He hated the style. That had been Boris' idea. He however, much preferred it to be down flat where it belonged thank you very much.

"Your mother-"

"Is dead, and I don't really give a damn." He told him.

"I'm going to kill you!" Boris shot forwards, but Bryan punched him hard in the face and sent him to the ground.

"The Abbey has been evacuated. All the students are somewhere you'll never know. The guards and other workers are all being arrested as we speak."

"You...Mikhail...you know where my son is!" Boris accused as he glared at the redhead.

"I do, and I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell you shit ever again." Police officers started to appear now, and they started to take Boris away, dragging him down the hall as he shouted at the teens. Anna just turned to face them, a smile bright on her face.

"I have to go with them in a little bit, but I have some things to give you before I go." She said brightly. She motioned for them to follow her, and they did so. Inside the locker room, she handed each of them a box. On each one was a card...a card that they had never seen before.

Six years ago, they had gotten their pictures and identities taken down for the sole purpose of getting ID badges made. They'd never seen, held, or used them before after that. They couldn't...they were undercover and badges such as these would be a clear tip off to Boris that they weren't as they seemed. Tala couldn't help but laugh as he held his badge for the first time. He put it, and the box it was on top of, on the bench before grabbing Anna's hand and pulling her towards him for a long and passionate kiss.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her as the others made cat calls and were laughing hysterically. She was blushing furiously by the time he let her go, but she could hardly care. She just pulled away and laughed lightly.

"I've got to go...I'm gonna go find Michaels and give him a report. Meet at the mansion later? We've got some plane tickets to Italy in the morning."

"Oh do we now?" Bryan teased as he started to open his present.

"Yep, we're going to run down to Livorno and pick up the kids and Adeline for some real Italian pizza." She replied brightly.

"I can't believe Kai let Adeline take care of Alessander, Adiren, _and _Kiril down there. I never thought I'd see the day he'd let her do anything to get her pretty little hands dirty." Bryan teased as he shook head.

"I know what you mean, but she's used to Livorno, and she was ademant on helping in anyway she could." She gave each one a hug and a kiss on the cheek before waving to them and heading down the hall.

Tala's gift was a beautiful white coat. It went down to his knees and wrapped around his waist with a belt that made him look more like a model then anything else. He put it on after brushing his hair down, tying it back behind his head and just letting some of his bangs hang in his face since he had no hope of controlling them.

Bryan also received a coat. Except this one was far more personal then the designer outfit someone spent too much money on. It was Michaels' jacket from when he had been a part of the army. Before he'd been upgraded to being the Director of the ISA, he had been in the army, and he'd gifted Bryan with his crash jacket. His name was still on it, and it made the teen grin brightly. It wasn't just the jacket though, inside the box were signed adoption papers with a note that read: _if we can't find you any family, your welcome to become part of mine._

The watchers felt their hearts bleed. At that time, the teens didn't know that Michaels had been killed. That somewhere during the events of that day he had died. They didn't know who had done it, they didn't know why they'd done it, but to Bryan Kutznetsov...the day he finally gained his freedoms and a family like he'd always wanted...he became an orphan once more.

Spencer was given a prefabricated highschool diploma of all things, and with it were books on marine biology and a list of great colleges along with an assurance to have everything to get completely paid for. _You're a smart kid, don't let your future go to waste. _Said the note that was attached.

Ian received a far more meaningful gift though, and everyone stared in awe at the paperwork that was given to him. Ian had a family. He'd been told that his father had sold him to the Abbey, when in fact, Boris had kidnapped him from home. His father had been looking for him for years, and had been struggling to find him all the time he'd been away. Michaels and Anna had tracked down his home and had spoken to him on that mission they'd gone on after Bryan's battle.

The man had begged them to bring his son to home, and if he so wanted to, Ian could go back to be with his father, step mother, and two step siblings. He closed to his eyes as he thought about a family that was waiting for him. A family that wanted him home. It was almost too good to be true, but it was. He could go home any time.

The video ended like that, a happy moment at the end of all things, and the watchers stared as they watched the blank screen for a few extra minutes. That was how it had all been. That was how everything had gone down. That was the truth at the end of it all.

Could they...in good faith...truly feel any contempt for these people now that they'd seen their lives? No. Not really. They couldn't feel contempt for them at all. They couldn't feel anger or hatred, they couldn't feel jealousy or rage. They could only feel acceptance. They had fulfilled a mission that had taken them six years to complete, and now at the ends of all things, they were still hurting.

They'd missed their plane to Livorno and they had been torn to pieces by all the teams who would not understand and had decided to hate them because of it. They felt horrible that they'd treated them so badly...they felt truly horrible. They hadn't treated them right at all!

And with that thought, the lights turned off. The watchers blinked, trying to understand what was going on.

Miles away Anna walked into Tala's hospital room, saw her computer, and instantly started running down the hall.

Bryan, Ian, and Spencer all received phone calls that were filled with barking orders and commands.

Rain pelted the windows of the hotel room as the Teams of the world stared back and forth fearfully at each other as they tried to understand what was happening.

Gun shots started to fill the air, and they screamed loudly, hitting the deck. The couch flipped over and papers went flying as the door to their room was slammed open. Half a dozen men were rushing in, aiming the guns at them as they glowered at the screen which was now playing a few words on it:

_Sorry, but this is the end._

One of the men shouted angrily and started to fire bullets into the TV. The kids screamed and tried to duck out of the way of the glass that was blowing all around them. Rei was grabbed roughly by his hair and pulled back so the gun was aimed at his head.

"Nobody move...or you all get a first hand sight of what the insides of this kid's skull looks like."

And the watchers of the world fell silent as they stared in horror at the men who were very intent for some reason on them coming with them.

Anna's last words to them all filled their heads:

_Sorry, this is the end._

She had known.

**And with the last cliff hanger of the series, I leave you all. Updates on The Pulse and On The Three on monday.**


	31. A Beginning For The Fortune Five Hundred

**UPDATE 12/21/2010: After going through my files, I realized that I did not post chapter 28 of this story. It's rather embarrassing, especially considering the fact that I reference it on numerous occasions, have finished this story and its sequel and am working on the third installment. Because of this, I have posted it in its proper location. Chapter 28 is now (correctly) called "The Promise" and the Baikal Lake installment has been pushed back to chapter 29 and so on and so forth. If you are looking for the "new chapter" please see chapter 28. Again, my apologies, and thank you for your time. **

**Windstar: **This is it, the last chapter of my long winded story. At nearly thirteen thousand words this is the longest chapter by far, and I guiltily most confess it is because I didn't want to stop writing. It took me a while, don't get me wrong, but I definitely think that this chapter turned out for the best. I'd like to thank a few people for their continual support and effort, especially for reviewing my story over and over again.

marishka91, Darial Kuznetsova, FlamingIce94, Silent Pandemonium (Marieke16), XSilentX-XShadowsX, The Swordsman, FallenHope-Angel, HimekoSukie, JenEvan, Yuliya, and the newcomer: volli the 1 critic.

I really appreciate all of your support. It means so much to me!

On a side note for Lies and Deceit. It is in production as we speak. I'm counting just about ten chapters either written down or plotted in my head. I'm adding more chapters here and there and putting more description to the scenes already written. I would look for that story in October. It will be out long after The Pulse has finished being updated, but with every week that it's not out, count on it for being another week spent fine tuning and making it perfect.

On request, I can post a prequel to it on this story. If you _really _want, I can even post the first chapter so you'll have a general flow of things. I think that'll be cheating personally, and really don't want to do that. I would feel much better simply posting a brief little amount so that it isn't just a complete spoiler of the first chapter.

Also, I hope you all know that by now there is a reason that I left the second chapter of The Pulse out for so long. It has to do primarily with this chapter!

I'm going to be explaining in depth in The Pulse the familial relationship between Tala and his blood parents. Yes, I said _parents_. I strongly urge you all to read The Pulse. It's going to be the only OTT like story you'll have for a long while yet. LAD isn't ready for updating and all that.

**Chapter: Thirty:**

They were all herded into a large truck like live stock. No one dared to make a move with those guns aimed straight at them and so they didn't say a word. All the papers that were on the table were picked up quickly, and the DVDs were stolen by the men.

The men had stolen their beyblades from them, had taken them away and had thrown them in a case that was kept up front. There were no doubts that the kids would be able to escape if there was any chance at all of them being able to launch them.

Rei was shivering in the cold, trying to rub warmth into his arms as he coughed slightly. All the stress and the now kidnapping was doing nothing for his injuries and the teen seemed to slowly yet surely be getting a cold. The others could only sit and wait as they were driven to God knows where. They didn't understand what was going on. They didn't understand what was happening, and Anna's dark words at the end of the film had been timed perfectly with the men coming in and pulling a storm trouper crusade.

The truck stopped and the door was opened. Their wrists were all tied together with rope, and that made it very hard for Rei in particular to walk, especially without the help of his crutches or someone to lean on effectively enough. Tyson glowered at them, but offered his back to the teen who was awkwardly helped up by Lee. Rei mumbled a thank you, and Tyson just nodded, knowing that things were going to get worse before they got better.

A car zipped in just as they were starting to take note of where they'd been brought too. It wasn't much of a surprise to see it was the Abbey. The doors opened on the car and a few men stepped out. At first there was a brief hope that it would be someone who was there to help, but when the back door was opened and a very unconscious Tala was pulled out, they realized they were in more trouble then they first thought.

The redhead was being carried towards them, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his fiery locks hiding his face from the world. He looked so much like a young child like that that the teams of the world couldn't help but feel harsh courses of anger course through their bodies as they looked at the boy.

They were brought down a series of corridors and halls and they were led into the old auditorium where Boris had made his great announcements. Tala was thrown to the floor not all that far away, his body laying limp on his side as he slept off the effects of whatever it was they'd given him.

They couldn't believe it...they couldn't believe it at all. Huddled in the auditorium of the Abbey, the Teams of the World could only stare at Tala who looked like he was sleeping peacefully. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. He looked completely and totally at ease despite the painfully awful situation.

He was still dressed in the hospital's scrub bottoms they'd given him to wear, his top was gone though and the bullet wound was exposed, blatant proof of the damage that had been done earlier that week. On his arms and torso were the scars that everyone had seen him slowly accumulate through the years, wolf bites that would never heal, long lines that one could only guess where they'd come from...

When he'd fist gotten out of the goo tank, they hadn't been able to see them, but now they realized that the tank had simply been hiding the scars from sight. They were still very much there, if only slightly faded. Tala's body looked terrible...it was so sad to think that all of that had happened to him.

His hands were handcuffed in front of him, his red hair shadowing his face. The teens couldn't help but stare at him, wondering how he'd come to be where he was, how they'd manage to capture him from the hospital despite the fact that the Demolition Boys were all surrounding him.

"I bet he's on drugs or something..." Johnny commented as he glanced towards the teen. The guards were pacing around them, brandishing their guns as they looked like they were trying to figure out just what it was they were supposed to be doing. Without the direction of Balkov, it seemed like they didn't know.

"I'm not a drug addict you imbecile." Tala's calm voice replied, cutting into their thought process as one of his blue eyes cracked open. The guards flinched slightly as they all turned their attention towards him. He stretched his arms out in front of his chest and then his legs before turning slightly as though to crack his back. "God, couldn't you have at least found me a T-shirt before you kidnapped me? I mean, seriously, talk about a cruel and unusual punishment – it's bloody freezing in here!" One particularly pissed off guard fired a shot at him, just missing his face by inches as it slammed into the wall next to his nose. He didn't even twitch. "Now, the real question is, did you miss on purpose or was that just bad aim?"

"Shut up you." He hissed as he started to approach. The Teams of the World whimpered slightly at the menace in the man's voice as he seemed to be ademant on knocking down the boy's show of bravado.

"I don't think so." He yawned and stretched once more before kicking up and easily landing on his feet. All the guns in the room were aimed directly at him and he raised an eyebrow. "Now, you know as well as I do that you're not going to shoot me, or else you would have done that in the hospital instead of kidnapping me. So, why don't you find me a T-shirt before I simply remove one from you? Or...I could go with a chair. You know, back problems these days...I can't seem to get this kink out of my-" Another shot went flying passed his face, and he simply sighed.

"Shut up and get back on the floor, traitor." The mouthy one growled lowly. Or perhaps he should have been called Trigger Happy.

"Oh puh-lease. You people never scared me in my life and you think you're scaring me now with your macho guns and your hostage situation. Now, I'd like to go sit in that chair over there, and I'd like a T-shirt. I'm not asking for much. Though, I could always just kill you and just get it over with – you do know that's what your facing right? The death penalty? I mean, this is just icing on the cake – you've broken international law and taken kids from...seven different countries? You're so dead." The bullet skimmed his shoulder but he just sighed. "Alright, so you definitely _want _to kill me. I get that, I mean, what the hell have I done for you except for screw you royally and betray you...but you know that you're just going to have to add another murder onto your wrap sheet."

"Shut up or I certainly can make it so that you feel like you want to die."

"Seriously? Going down that route? Face it, I was on the three more times then you've scratched your ass – I take pain like it's candy. You want to talk about a pain threshold from hell give me a break, you guys didn't even scare a little _girl _when she was here and you think that-" The gun moved and aimed straight at Tyson's head just as he reached the chair. The Japanese boy's mouth dropped as his eyes widened and Tala fell stonily silent.

"One more word and I'll kill the brat." He glared, his eyes shining with a renewed hatred as he stared at Trigger Happy. The man was glowering straight back. "Now. Sit down." And cheekily enough he sat down in the chair, his gaze locked on the man who growled but didn't press it anymore.

"What do you want with us?" Emily asked as a fat tear started to fall down her face, fogging her glasses. Tala was looking pointedly at a spot in the wall, his eyes hardly once glancing in their direction.

"Want with you? You all know what's in the files that were used to incriminate us...you've all read and seen the evidence...what the hell do you think we want to do with you?"

"You're going to k-k-kill us?" Kenny asked as his hands started to shake in fear.

"No...we're not going to kill you...and maybe we won't get what we want now.. but give it a few years...and you'll all be working for us...and we'll slowly recreate our army from scratch." Tala actually rolled his eyes at that. Trigger Happy responded in kind by cracking the butt of his gun against his head. Mariah screamed and Rei grabbed her, pulling her to his chest, despite his injuries he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He'd defend her to the death, and that was slightly nobel considering the grim situation. "No comments from you."

"I don't know...that one seems more like trouble then anything else." All eyes whipped up in time to see Kai leaning against the door frame, his eye brows raised at the sight. There was a satisfied smirk on his face as he watched the scene, the twenty or so guards of the Abbey jumping at the sight of him. His hands were ghosting around what looked suspiciously like a black and green beyblade, his eyes dancing in firelight.

He was positively a frightening sight to behold. Especially considering his track record with that particular beyblade. The guns were immediately all aimed at him, and with it his hands went into the air, all eyes going to the blade that was in his palm as he slowly yet confidently walked into the room.

The only one who didn't aim their gun at him aimed it instead at Tala. He pulled the teen from the chair he had sat himself down in and had held his arm over his throat before aiming his pistol at the teen's head. Tala's blue eyes flashed in annoyance, but he'd learned from before that saying anything more in this situation meant that someone was going to get hurt.

Kai met his brother's eyes for a brief moment before sighing and continuing. "I mean, I've known the jack ass for years, never listens to what he's been told, always runs in head first, this one time, he actually nearly got us all killed in this massive snow ball war that we decided to wage over a frozen lake that wasn't quite frozen. It was intense. Let me assure you all of one thing gentlemen...that person is nothing but trouble."

"What are you? The cavalry?" Trigger Happy asked as he cocked his gun at the ice child's head. He squeezed he throat some and the boy coughed slightly as he tried to get some air. Still, he didn't struggle, and it looked like he was waiting for something. For what, the Teams of the World couldn't quite figure out. They were staring up at the scene horrified and looking as though any moment now something dreadful was going to happen. It probably was, after all, what could possibly go right in this type of situation? Kai just shook his head, he looked at them all calmly enough, though his sight seemed to remain frozen on Trigger Happy and his tight hold on the teen he was busy choking.

"I'm what the people at the office like to call a Terrorist Negotiator. TN for short." Luka, forgetting to be quiet at such an idea, let out a barking laugh, clutching his sides the best he could with his wrists cuffed and his neck held tight. He was truly amused by the idea. The Teams of the World blanched, unable to think of what else to say. Right now their lives all depended on Kai showing them a little mercy and consideration. It was Kai's stage now, and anything he said or did would determine their outcome. Kai scowled at his brother but the redhead just kept at it, laughing his hat off as though it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

The other teens felt themselves feeling horribly stupid. After all, they had done nothing that would make the other feel like helping them. They had done nothing that would make Kai want to help them out. They all knew who Kai was really here for...and it wasn't them...

Considering how they'd treated him at the hospital, who could blame him? They'd treated him like trash – worse then trash. They'd thrown him out in the rain, leaving him like he was something not worth being touched. Like he was just shit on the street. They hadn't treated him like friends at all...and now here he was as a Terrorist Negotiator for them, and it was increasingly obvious that he truly wouldn't be helping them out any. This was for his brother...

"Shut up you!" Trigger snapped, his eyes gun aimed once more at Tyson, and once more the red head kept himself in line, a scowl planted on his handsome features. "You're the person that your precious ISA sent to negotiate?"

"No, I just came here because I liked the architecture." He deadpanned, looking completely serious, and Tala bit his lip to hold the snicker in. "And really, I'm here for the kids in the corner, I'm just warning you about that brat in your arms. He really can be a menace sometimes."

The Teams were staring at Kai in awe. They couldn't believe what he was saying. Despite how they'd treated him, he was going to be negotiating with them for _their _release. Not the redhead's. That were the orders he'd been given, and those were the ones he was going to follow. He was just doing his job...just like he'd always been doing. Just a job...

A job that he was very good at.

Now, for a few moments no one talked, everyone just kept looking back and forth between each other. Trigger was trying to work out what it was that Kai was saying, and the other guards were looking worried and concerned about what was going on around them. They didn't look like they understood what was happening, or what the goal was. In all honesty, Trigger probably had been the ring leader all along with his delusions of grandeur.

Tala was rolling his eyes at the display, he didn't seem worried, and that alone made the teens relax slightly. If there was one thing that their video had shown them was that when the two of them got together they always did what they wanted to do – regardless of the odds, rules, or the decisions others made for them.

If Tala wasn't concerned when his life wasn't being bartered for, then they should have been concerned either since they were being bartered for. That being said, he seemed oddly at ease after being kidnapped from the hospital. However that had happened...

One thing that was starting to confuse them now more then ever though, was just how Tala had even ended up in the Abbey. He had been in the hospital, and according to the redhead he'd been kidnapped from it, but even that didn't seem plausible because he would have had to have been surrounded by the Demolition Boys who'd showed no signs of leaving his side when they'd been there.

So what had happened? Only this time, there were no video tapes to show what had happened. Just like how there weren't any video tapes to show what had happened to Michaels. All they knew was that the man was dead, Anna was somehow involved, and yet no one knew who had killed him or why. There were no answers this time, just like there never would be answers for them again if they didn't get out of this.

Kai arriving wasn't all that much of a surprise, but him being a TN sort of was. There hadn't been any talks at all on the video of him being used as a TN in the past, and even now he didn't seem to be acting very professionally, if anything he was acting like this was just another day in the life of Sacha "Kai" Hiwatari.

It probably was.

Thinking back on it, how many times had they heard about him going on missions for the ISA, travelling around the world and doing things that he never should have had to do when he was a child? He was still just a child. He and his brethren had lost so much of their lives by doing things like this. This...whatever this was...was simply another tack on a long wall of tacks. Another thimble in the sewing box. Another straw in the haystack.

"Why the hell would they send _you_?" Trigger asked, his eyes boring into him. Kai raised an eyebrow, then looked at his palm expectantly.

"Well, I'm more like a...Terrorist Negotiator slash bargaining chip. Today is my official resignation from the ISA and the BBASS, and I get to commemorate it by being stuck here on my last mission. No man left behind as it were, I'm not really expected to come back. You all get to have me and this lovely beyblade here...and in exchange you send the kids packing."

"Kai, no!" Tyson shouted as he stared at his former friend. The teen wasn't even looking in his direction. He didn't quirk an eyebrow, he didn't glance, he didn't even tilt his head. He just kept looking onwards, straight forwards and acting like he hadn't even heard the boy. "Kai you can't do that! They'll kill you-"

The others started to shout their responses too, clearly not understanding what was going on, and despite Tala's pointed glares in their direction, they kept at it, shouting out how he couldn't do that and that it wasn't right and all that bull shit. The only ones who didn't shout were the ones who valued their lives a little better then what the Blade Breakers seemed to think. They at least understood the gravity of the situation and if Kai wanted to be a willing test subject and prisoner then who were they to stop him – even if they did feel slightly guilty at the thought that he was giving his life up for them when they were the ones who got captured in the first place.

The guards on the other hand were staring at the blade in his hand with a greedy passion. They were licking their lips, their desire growing. They all knew the capabilities of that blade and they all knew what was being offered to them. Kai was a pilot. He could run the program. He could get in that seat that was just downstairs...and he could take it apart and put it back together. Army or not, the whole world would be at their feet in a matter of seconds.

"Why would the ISA let you bring that to us?" Trigger asked, his eyes narrowing even as his fingers twitched as though he were going to try to take it from him. The teen didn't respond at first. He simply glanced towards Luka who looked up slightly. His blue eyes taking in the rafters above them with an eerie quality. He was thinking, and that wasn't all that good.

Emily stared at Tala's face, watching it as his blue eyes narrowed slightly. He was looking at something intently. He was staring at something...many somethings as his gaze twitched slightly. She looked up as well, her mouth dropping slightly. There was someone there. She was about to say something, but whoever it was raised a finger to their lips and she nodded. She had to be quiet, Kai was a distraction...they weren't bargaining for freedom – they were taking it by storm!

"They don't know I have it." He replied simply, his gaze flicking back to the mastermind of this party. "I took it. I figured just me wouldn't be enough to get the brats off the hook."

"We'll just kill them anyway...when we take over the world – they'll be the first to go. I might as well just kill them now." Tyson yelped when the gun was levelled for the third time at his forehead.

"I won't pilot for you if you kill him." Kai's voice was condescending. He sounded like he was talking about the rules of baseball rather then bartering for his former teammate's life. He didn't seem worried and he didn't seem at all concerned. The man growled lowly, moving the gun to aim at the ground instead of Tyson's skull. Whatever it was he was going to say was cut off when a low hiss of pain distracted him enough to look back at Tala who was clutching the sides of his head. Kai's eyes narrowed as he looked at his brother, worry creasing lines on his forehead.

The teen gasped out, his body pitching forward and his eyes rolling to the back of his head. The man yelped and let him go, not expecting that at all. Tyson was lucky the man had moved the gun, because when he'd jumped back he'd fired. Everyone jumped at the sound, but all eyes were on Tala. The redhead was seizing before he even hit the ground, and pandamonium broke out almost instantly. The teen's body was shaking and spazing with such a ferocity, his mouth snapping shut and biting his lip where blood started to dribble down it.

"What the hell is this?" The man shouted as he whipped back to Kai who barely had moved from where he was standing, though his body was tense and he looked like he was only seconds away from bolting to the boy's side. The Teams of the World were screaming and shouting, trying to get someone to go over to the redhead who was clearly in a state of duress as he seized.

Emily's wide eyes kept going back and forth between the boy on the floor who no one could take their eyes off of and the ceiling. She grabbed her nearest team member and started to pull him to the ground, her hand shaking as she did so.

"Looks like a grand mal seizure to me." The calm TN replied as he watched his brother flail.

"What the hell do we do to stop it?"

"How the hell should I know? Weren't you the ones responsible for our health care?" Then all at once the boy's body went rigid and he stopped moving on the floor, before suddenly he was lax and his chest ceased to rise and fall. "Although, now I think you should probably do something if you want to see him conscious again- I don't think he's breathing." Kai's voice was quiet, his gaze lowered towards the body. His hands had dropped by his sides, but anyone could see how tightly his fists were clenched. He looked terrified.

Trigger slowly moved forwards, his eyes staring at the body that was motionless on the ground. He wasn't even breathing. Slowly yet surely the man lowered himself next to the boy, raising a hand to check for a pulse, he barely touched skin before a leg twisted around and caught him in the back of the neck. Tala's hands grabbed his shirt and dragged him the rest of the way to the ground before flipping him over and slamming him into the floor.

At the same time Kai's hand shot out and snapped into the throat of the guard nearest him, making him gag as he struggled to breathe. Tala kept his prey's body close to him as he snapped the gun out of his hand with a swift break that snapped his wrist in two. Guns started fireing and the teens in the huddle all slammed themselves onto the ground as they tried to avoid getting hit.

Now that Trigger was out of commission though, Tala was moving quickly, ducking behind a pillar and calling out for his brother. Moments later Kai threw a gun towards him and he caught it with practiced hands and within seconds he was firing shot at the guards who were scrambling in their efforts to figure out what it was they were supposed to do.

Then out of nowhere more shots started to fire and as the seconds passed the guards were littering the floor. Kai and Tala took refuge behind a pillar while the guns were going off all around them, and all at once silence lifted into the room as the fight came to a close. In less then five minutes everything had been completely taken care of.

The Teams of the World glanced around them, trying to understand just what had happened – it had gone so fast. One minute Tala looked dead, the next there was a fight and then there was this. Emily was mumbling under her breath, her gaze continually flicking upwards. Silence.

"You alright?" Kai whispered softly, breaking the quiet.

"Yeah, I popped a few stitches when I fell though." The teen hissed as he held his side painfully. Tyson slowly moved to his feet, but stopped when a harsh voice told him to stay down. He looked about, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. The brothers broke from the pillar though, checking the body of each and every guard, patting them down, and moving the guns away from them before the redhead relented and called out a loud "Clear!" for all to hear.

Instantly ropes fell from the ceiling and three people descended slowly from them, touching down on the ground with a practiced ease. Bryan, Ian, and Spencer stood before them now, their faces marked with a seriousness as they joined their two partners in the center of the room. The window to the side pushed open and Anna crawled through it, looking a bit flustered but all together in one piece.

"Well, looks like you got involved again, what happened to only wanting a desk job?" Tala teased lightly even as his hand held his stomach in pain.

"That all got changed when somebody got kidnapped ahead of schedule. They didn't have the TAC team in place and you just had to go and get caught." The girl muttered as she slipped the gun she'd been holding into it's holster at her hip. "You all can get up now, I doubt the floor's all that cozy."

"Not my fault, what was I going to say, that I wasn't going to go with the doctor? I wasn't about to throw a hissy fit, besides everything worked out well enough didn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, this isn't all of them, there's still about five or six on the run, but considering, we definitely did well. We have most everybody." She said simply, as she took a radio that was hanging off her shoulder and started to call in their position and need for a pick up.

Dressed in black shirts with tan cargo pants and black cloves the teens were all suited up for the job. Around their necks hung their newly received ID badges that were worn with pride. It was the first time they could ever use them on a mission, and it was almost as though they were wearing them simply because of that. Bryan passed Tala his own and he took it with a grateful smile. Kai's own was tucked under his shirt and hiding behind his scarf.

"Wait...what the hell is going on here?" Tyson asked as he looked at the six people before them. He was under the distinct impression that they'd all been kidnapped and rescued, and yet everyone was taking this far too much in stride...and what was this about being on schedule? Anna responded with straight face and offering no apology whatsoever.

"I have to wonder how much of an idiot you took me for? I work for the International _Security_ Agency, and I'm wondering what part of that made you think that I would ever give you information that is involving an ongoing investigation that could very well slander the results of any trial based on the information being contaminated?" There was a stunned silence as she spoke, all the various teams not knowing quite what to say.

"Now now, be nice." Tala chided lightly, but she went on unpreturbed.

"The files and information I gave you was what you could call a trap. I specifically set out a rumor not to long after I gave you the information that would cause this night to occur. Your kidnapping was based on the fact that you all had information that could incriminate these men here. You are a far easier target then the ISA headquarters is, and so when they went after _you _it was to gather the information that I gave you and they needed you all because letting you go would just get the cops on their trail and killing you wouldn't help them at all. They needed you alive long enough to see if they could get you to help them at some point."

"Y-y-you...you..." Tyson didn't know whether he should slap her or go straight for the kill he was shaking so much.

"I set you up. Yes. On what planet would you think that I would just give you information just because I cared what you felt? I've never even spoken to you without being undercover and you thought that out of the goodness of my heart I would just give you information like that? You're insane...but I do offer my apologies for giving you a bad night. Luckily no one got hurt. You did have the common sense not to put up too much of a fight I gather."

"You bitch!" The Japanese Boy howled as he glowered hatefully at her. She looked at him lightly, hardly thinking him much of a concern.

"If it makes you feel any better, Kai didn't even know that this was what was going to happen. He only found out after Tala got kidnapped from the hospital. He wasn't exactly pleased with it either." She shrugged.

"Hey, knock it off Anya, you're not making any friends." Kai warned as he gave her a dark look. The door opened and they looked over to where Christopher was standing. The man took in the sight and nodded.

"You all alright?" He asked as he walked into the room, looking over towards the teams.

"We're fine." Robert muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What I want to know is why the hell this all had to happen in the first place?"

"We knew we weren't going to get everyone in the initial sweep. We knew that we weren't going to have the opportunity to get all the guards because there were too many and we had the fortune five hundreds to worry about-" Kai answered, his voice calm even as he said the first words he'd said since the fight earlier in the week.

"The what?" Michael asked as he scratched his head in confusion.

"The five hundred kids from the Abbey that were suddenly homeless and extremely confused." He clarified. "They thought up this plan and set it into motion, and when you all got kidnapped I just showed up to make sure no one got too hurt before the cavalry arrived."

"We never were going to put you in any danger. If you'll recall, Luka made sure that no one got shot each and every time there was the threat of it happening." Spencer added as he looked pointedly at Tyson.

The boy growled low in his throat. He didn't like being messed with, and this certainly took the cake. Anna moved forward though and bowed lowly to him. He hesitated slightly at the sight, but nodded at her.

"I'm very sorry that it had to happen this way. I honestly didn't think much about what you'd feel about it, but everything was done for the sake of the future. I don't care if you forgive me, but please know that in this, the last battle with the Abbey you could at least have truly been involved even if it was under false pretenses." She straightened and slipped her hand into Tala's hand and looked at him dead in the eye. "To the hospital with you!" He glowered, but nodded anyway.

"God, I hate stitches." He muttered as he shook his head and started to follow behind.

So that was it. At the end of all things, that was how things turned out. The Teams of the World stayed in Russia for another week or so. They met up with each other and they talked about their experiences and what they thought. Tala left the hospital after another day of rest and was given strict to not do anything strenuous. He ignored it for the most part and moved on with his life.

Kai made his peace with the Blade Breakers, and promised them he'd go back to Japan sometime and meet up with them. He even told Rei he'd visit him in China if it'd be easier. They accepted him now for who he was, and while he was still wary, with the encouragement of his family, he knew that he'd give them a chance.

The court-case involving Boris Balkov was going to take a while, but during that time, there were somethings that needed to be done. All the information needed to be given to the police and lawyers needed to be called. It would be years before they saw the end of this, and that was fine, because the Abbey was closed down indefinitely.

Which is why the Demolition Boys were on their way to the campus that was called The Fortune Five-Hundreds. For the past two weeks nothing had really been explained to the boys. Various agents of the ISA and some of the Demolition Boys themselves had been trying to keep the boys calm while everything was going down, but only now were they all going to hear what they had to say.

Kai, who was the legal owner of the campus as all deeds and titles were in his name, lead the way as they entered the large brick building that had been built as an auditorium for the boys to hear. The whole school would be able to fit into it, and it was time that everyone understood what was happening and what had happened.

Before they entered though, Tala could help the soft gasp that left his lips as he looked at the name on the building that was carved into stone. The name that was exclaiming just what this hall of meeting...this hall that was dedicated to the future...was called. He felt a little misty as he stared at it, and Bryan clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"For Mikhail." He whispered softly as he stared at the great name of their deceased friend. The dedication was understood by every student who had walked through those doors. The doors of Mikhail Hall...the boy who had fought for a future and had given everything for it.

"Perfect." Tala responded as he stared at it. The name was perfect.

All the boys were sitting in the chairs, their uniforms had been removed and they were wearing clothes that Kai had bought for them with his allowance. They were all wearing clothes, and some of them for the first time, that were unique and individual. They could be themselves without having to worry about the uniforms of the Abbey. Some kids liked their uniforms and needed them for comfort, and they weren't taken away from them, nothing was going to be taken away from them if they didn't want it too.

Tala stood before the school now, his back straight and his eyes unwaivering, and all the students were staring at him. They didn't dare look away because they wanted answers. They wanted to know what was going on, and they wanted to know what the plan was for the future.

"I know the past two weeks have been confusing and difficult for a lot of you, and if things had gone smoother, this conversation would have taken place the night you were brought her." He started off, no need to introduce himself – everyone knew his name. All eyes were focused on him as he spoke. "I was shot right after the tournament and this is the first time I've managed to make it here, and I'm sorry it took so long because I really wanted to get here before hand." He sighed and took a deep breath. "All five hundred or so of us are from the Abbey.

"I asked all the others to leave, because I think that this is something that needed to be done with us alone. No one else to speak or decide things for us. Many of us were born and raised there, some were taken from their homes, and some chose to go there. Whatever the reasons, whatever the story, we were all apart of that institution.

"Over the past few years we've heard about a world that we were going to make our own. A world that we were going to take over and show who we are. Boris would be our leader, he would dethrone Voltaire as the money maker and desisions and he would lead us all to a paradise. When Kiril was born he was to be our Prince, and we excepted that because he was Boris' son.

"Some of you might not know this, and in all honesty I don't expect any of you to care. I'm also his son, and I am standing here before you to tell you that my so called father was a piece of shit manipulator who had no business raising children." There were a few gasps, but he plowed on. "How many of us have scars on our backs from being on the three? How many of us have wounds, both mentally and physically that we've had to hide because we weren't allowed to show weakness? How many of us have friends who are buried in unmarked graves never to be wept for and never to be given a proper funeral?

"I can say now, all of us. I know that each and everyone of you, no matter how brave or how strong, have escaped completely the horrors that Abbey befell upon us. We were children. We are children. We weren't old enough to understand and we weren't wise enough figure out what was happening to us wasn't normal.

"Normal kids don't get whipped when they do things wrong. Normal kids don't have experiments done on them at night. Normal kids dont sleep in cells or have cameras watching their every move...we were never normal. None of us were. We were out of the ordinary, and we were extraordinary.

"That Abbey did do one thing – it taught is how to beyblade. It's something we're good at. It's something that we're able to do. We are both brave and powerful because of that place. We can curse it all we want, but that's the place that did that for us. We all were apart of that life. Beyblading was our life.

"But it was done wrong. It was done _very _wrong. Maybe we have such good statistics because we are the ones who survived the holes that would open underneath us when we lost. Maybe we have such good ability because we were afraid of the thing in the dark...of the canibal children who existed off the flesh of those who lost..." Kids winced at the dark fear that everyone in the Abbey knew about. "Maybe that's why we're so good...but is that anyway to learn?

"Some of you would say yes. I know that some of you really bit into that idea of learning and training, and I'm not taking that away from you. All I'm saying is that their's a better way. We deserve a better way. We deserve a better world, but taking this one over and having a dictator isn't the way to do it. Each one of us deserves to live the life that we were born to live.

"If that means beyblading, then that's what it means, but that's a future we should be able to decide on. We were never given that choice in the past. We were only given one choice. To battle. To become soldiers. The government of this country knew what was happening, and some parts of it even funded that project. They didn't know that we were training to take over the world, but they wanted the money from having continual world champions year after year. That's their fault, because here we are. We're here and they don't know what to do with us.

"Well I think we deserve to live a life that isn't under their thumb, a life that isn't being ordered around. So six years ago, my friends behind me and I joined the ISA and we were responsible for bringing the Abbey to a close." He paused as the students gasped and took in that information. "If you want someone to blame for destroying the Abbey, blame me and mine behind me. That's our doing.

"However, we knew what we were doing. They were wrong to do the shit they did to us. I don't deserve to live with a body surgically altered so I can mess with a computer just by thinking about it or having my bones exchanged for metal. Yet that's something I know that not only me, but some of you also live with. Bryan doesn't deserve to have his brain waves chemically altered so that his temper is off the scale, but he and many of you live with that. We all have things that we didn't deserve to happen happen to us, and it was wrong!

"So we destroyed the Abbey; Boris, the Guards, and Scientists are in jail, and here we are now. Five hundred survivors who are starting a world anew. We have been raised since we got here to be soldiers and beybladers. We know nothing of highschool, of spring flings, of proms, or of movie nights. We know nothing of the outside world. We know only this. What we've been taught.

"For those intens and purposes, Kai spent over three billion dollars over the past three years using his money from his inheritance of Hiwatari Enterprises to build this place along with Voltaire who has always been funding the Abbey while in truth has been orchestrating the ISA's investigation from a far. This place, which we've called the 'Fortune Five-Hundreds' based off of _you all _who now have a fortune and future for your taking, is what you could call your new Abbey.

"We will still train in beyblading. We will still have martial arts lessons. We will still have a school that will teach languages, history, math, and more. We will still run things similarly. Only this time: there will be no whipping. There will be no three. There will be no guards or pain or punishment. There will be nothing except for us. We will survive this transition because we are who are left.

"We aren't fit for the real world because we've never experienced it. This place is built with the purpose of helping us deal with it. We will start off slow, and eventually I truly think that we'll be able to start living normal lives again.

"Some of you aren't going to want to be apart of this. I understand that, and I respect that. Some of you want to go home, and again, I understand that and respect that. Which is why for the past six years, a lady friend of mine has devoted much of her time and energy in one thing: finding your homes.

"If you have parents, she found them for you. If you have any other relatives, they're their for you if you want them. If you want to go back to them, you can. We're not going to keep you here. We're not going to chain you down and force you to stay, nor is this going to be a financial burden on those people if you want to stay. This place...this school...is meant for those who need it. We'll always be here for you.

"If you have no family, we'll be your family. We'll be your family because we've always been brothers. Just like in regular Abbeys of the world, in that place all the people there were brothers. We are family, bound not by blood- but by experience. If you want to go to school outside, we'll pay for it. If you want help finding a job, we'll help you. We're here for you.

"If you are too accustomed to the life of the soldier, then our positions in the ISA have been increased to be commanders. We'll have a position fro you, and you can run missions for the security of a world that we're building and rebuilding everyday. We're family, and we're there for each other.

"Now, I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm not going to force you into anything. If you're going to stay there are rules, but none will be dealt with in the punishments that exist on the three. There will be no beatings or pain. You have a choice to make gentlemen. If you want to stay...then there's a door back here that I'll be waiting behind with your room assignments and your schedules for school which won't start for another few weeks because honestly – we deserve a break!

"If you want to leave...the door's behind you and no one will stop you. There will be a young lady out side that door who will be able to tell you if you have any family that you want to see or be with. She is _my girl_." He stared at everyone so they understood his meaning. "And she will be here with me, with us, indefinitely. So you will always have the chance to ask her, and she'll tell you. She's also going to be instated as a teacher here for when the school gets put together. She'll be teaching the fine art of hacking and computer programming for those who are interested in the computer realm.

"Regardless of what you choose, that door is always open. If you leave, you can come back if you can't get used to life. There will be no guilt, there will be no pain. There won't be a problem. You can come back, and we will help you. That's what a family does. So, we're going to go behind that door there, and I'll leave it to you all to decide for yourselves." He stopped talking and looked at everyone one last time before spinning on his heel and walking away. The Demolition Boys followed, and everyone stayed silent as they stared at their aftermath quietly.

At first...nobody moved. Nobody could speak or say a word. They just stared after them in mute silence. No one seemed to want to be the first one to decide, but everyone knew that that one choice would lead the hearts of many. So they waited...waited for the brave person who would stand up and decide his future.

And it was Andrei who made the first step. He stood up slowly, and everyone stared at him in dumb silence, their focus on him and him alone. He knew that they were watching him, and so he turned and looked back at everyone. He met their gazes with one of his own, and he nodded to them.

"For Mikhail." He said simply as he motioned around the hall, and with that he walked towards the door where Tala was waiting, and he was the first one to sign his name.

After him, Three-hundred and ninety-two people decided to stay behind. They wanted to see this future that Tala was planning out for them. They wanted to be a part of the world that they could have a place in. They wanted to see the change that they themselves could make.

The hundred or so people who left, promised to come back, they just wanted to see a world with their parents first. Anna was happy enough to indulge and they were all given money for the fares they would need for their journey.

Everyone was feeling slightly awed by it all, and they hugged their friends and their family members as they went on by. They moved past with their heads held high. The older kids watching out for the younger kids, as it should be.

That night, the near four hundred people that were left behind were split up into dorms based on age. Ten dorms met them, each dorm holding fourty kids. Two floors high and ten rooms to each wing, the dorms were easily split apart so all four hundred kids could have their own room if they so chose.

The dorms were built in various locations on campus, and were split apart by age. The youngest fourty kids stayed in one dorm, and it went on up from there. For the most part everyone was agreeable to the system, after all, the older kids didn't _really _want to look out for the younger kids every day if they had an option.

Tala's words held true though. For the next two months, there was nothing. It was just free time, and for the first time in their lives the students were actually able to experience what it felt like the be kids. Bryan's temper slowly started to get better the more he played with the others, and everyone started to slowly heal the wounds of the past.

It was only a week after the F-5s (as they were affectionately being called) were settled, that the Demolition Boys, now officially called F-Officers, took their much needed vacation and headed on down to Livorno Italy where a beautiful blonde woman was waiting for them.

They walked down the busy streets of the city, passing by the old theater that Tala and Anna had told them they'd worked at, and going through the town. Tala showed them were he'd first learned how to swim, and he showed them all the places that he went to. Anna showed them the shops and the cafes that they'd gone to, and they all stopped and ate and laughed together before heading down to the little cottage on the edge of town that was over looking the sea.

Luka knocked once and then pushed open the door, and as he looked in, he smiled brightly. His little brother was standing there, smiling up at him with such glee on his face that he almost couldn't believe he was staring at such a happy child. The boy called out his name, his real name: Luka! And ran to him to get picked up. The redhead scooped up him and held him to his chest, hugging the boy tightly as he breathed in his smell.

Kai ran forwards and greeted Adeline, awkwardly fumbling over a greeting before she poked him in the shoulder and told him to just hug her for God's sake! He did so, and blushed awkwardly over the cat calls that were going out behind him. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian sat down next to Alessander who was still slightly awkward about everything, but looking far healthier then the last time they'd seen him. And Anna went and gave Adrien a hug too, asking him how he was as he shyly told her he was alright.

A kindly old man, who the toddlers had dubbed started calling 'nonno,' or grandfather in italian, walked in, and Tala gave him a fierce hug. He called him by name, and introduced him to the others as the man who had helped him when he'd been fumbling in the dark. Everyone greeted him excitedly, and life moved on.

There were still nightmares. Nightmares of memories best left forgotten. Tala himself had them every so often, one such nightmare echoing the past for him, and painting a light on things when he thought he understood it all:

"_So in the end it's you." Marina murmured softly. Tala nodded as he stared at her broken and bloody body. She was going to die soon. Even she must have known that. She was staring up at him with eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. There was more then one reason he had stayed away from her cell since his return to the Abbey all those months ago. There was more then one reason...yet as he stood there now, his eyes taking in her destroyed body he knew that he should have had this talk with her long ago. He might never know the answers to the questions that plagued him._

_He glanced to the side. The corpses of the two babies she'd had in her stomach were laying on the table, disfigured and mutilated. The little girl's throat was cut, but the boy was simply a monster. He shuddered to think that those had been his siblings, his little brother and sister who were so disfigured and killed because of it. The girl...simply because she'd been a girl._

_He looked back at the woman. They'd been left alone. Only Boris would know of this meeting. He had been the one who had uncharacteristically brought him down to talk to the woman. He had taken him straight from training to do it. Kai had looked up in bleak surprise when he'd seen the man burst into the training room and wrench the redhead away._

_Kai...he wondered briefly if Kai was worried about him. His brother would never know that Boris had actually been so lost and so broken hearted as he brought his son down the stairs. Kai would never hear of how the man had actually sounded like a father who had lost everything. He'd even called the redhead his 'most beloved son.' It was so out of character that Tala hadn't been able to believe it. Yet now, standing before this woman, he knew he could. This woman...was terrifying. There was something about her that was out of the ordinary. There was something strange. There was something he couldn't place his finger on...but he didn't like her. He never had, and he never would._

_His fingers twitched unconsciously towards his arms where there were bite marks from Luna. The wolf who had watched over him, and in his inability to speak he had called her based on the sounds she had made. He licked his lips as his arms seemed to ache without understanding. His scars were burning him. His heart rate increased._

_This was wrong. This was all wrong. He was more scared of this woman then he was of his father who was waiting just outside the door, listening to everything. He was more scared of this woman then the man who had tortured him his whole life. He was more afraid of this person...this weak and fragile person who had done him no true wrong...no true wrong except for that memory...that haunting memory of the past where she had drugged him in his sleep and had tried to take him away from the Abbey._

_He had lied when he'd told his friends that story though...it wasn't just the Abbey she'd said she'd want to take him away from. It wasn't just the Abbey at all...this woman had been intending to take him away from everything...the drug she'd put in his body had been meant to be lethal. She'd told him as much. It had been Boris who had caught her and upon seeing him had in fact saved his life that night._

_The whole memory had been foggy for so long that he had only just recently put it all together. He'd recalled it all now perfectly, it it was for that reason that he was scared of this woman. This woman who had tried to kill him was far more frightening then that man who had only ever looked for his obedience and his cooperation. Boris had never had any intent of killing him. He had only wanted him to listen to him. He understood Boris, and though he hated him, he did not fear him as he feared this unstable person who was staring up at him now with such loathing in her blue eyes._

"_You were never supposed to live." She hissed to him quietly. He felt his heart break slightly at the words, but nodded anyway. He had always known that. He had always known that she had never wanted him. The miscarriages before where testament alone. For someone to have so many...when they were so young...meant more then what most people cared to admit. "I tired...I tried like I did with the others...but he was always there...he was always watching. He was always observing...I couldn't do it. I had no time..." He felt his breath increase. He looked over to the disfigured boy on the table. He shouldn't have looked like that. His face...his face shouldn't look like that. The girl was strangely perfect, but the boy was horrible to observe._

_She'd done something, like she'd tried to do with the others. She'd done something and his was the result. A still born child and a girl who was slated for murder. She was laughing now though, and he looked at her intently. He wanted to know what this woman was thinking. He wanted to know what she was even doing here._

"_People always thought...people always thought it was him. That he was the mastermind behind this whole thing." She laughed quietly, and he closed his eyes. He knew as much. "He was just a tool though...a tool that was so easily corrupted. He was just a foolish tool. It didn't take long. It didn't take long at all...started off small. Just little things that would get him on the radar...things that would make it seem like he was the one that was thinking all those thoughts. He loved me...the fool. He loved me so much that he became addicted._

"_That was one reason why he couldn't stand to see you all your life you know?" She asked as she looked at him. Tala nodded. He knew Boris' hatred for him, after seeing this woman's face, had stemmed from more then who he was. "I didn't want you..." She repeated. "I wanted him. That little bastard those horrible people had." He closed his eyes and tried to breathe. "That bitch couldn't have her own so they stole my child!"_

"_Kai?" He murmured the name softly, and she turned to him, her face twisted in anger. She was furious, but he didn't care. He really couldn't care anymore. He didn't have it in him, he didn't have anything in him that made him feel anything for this woman. This woman who was so destroyed and so insane at this point that he couldn't place any attachment to her._

"_I was supposed to have the ultimate child, me, not that whore!" He closed his eyes, his mind going to the woman who had raised him for all those years. The beautiful woman who loved her children so much and so deeply. He knew that she had known his birth mother. It hadn't taken long for her to find out. Especially when he'd drawn that picture for Niko. The woman had pulled him into her arms and told him how much she loved him and how much she wanted him. She told him how much she truly truly was blessed to have him. He'd always wondered why she'd said that to him that day...but he knew now it was because of this. Because of this woman._

"_When you left...why did you bring me to them then?" He asked softly, remembering all that Michaels had said about the situation. The man had felt obligated to inform the brothers about it as much as he could. The man had been wrong about the woman's undying love for him, he had known it then just like he knew it now, what he didn't know was why it all happened the way it did._

"_Because they at least were easily swayed. They had that child that should have been mine...and they knew my husband's foolish crimes because of rumors. They let me stay with them and they hid me from that man. I was going to kill them you know...once the baby was born I was going to kill them and take that child as my own."_

"_Why didn't you?" He asked, struggling hard not to imagine his adoptive parents on the day of their death – torn to pieces and blood everywhere._

"_Because they sent me away! They sent me to that zoo and fed me words about how I can make a life for myself, how I can start afresh, how everything would be better there! Then you were born! You disgusting replacement for the child that should have been mine." She was growling hatefully at him, but he didn't care. He honestly couldn't care less. All he could do was thank the lord above that this woman hadn't had her way...that Kai had been able to live with his parents for what little time he had. That he'd been able to be given freedom from her madness for a short while._

_That day that they had met had scared everyone. She'd grabbed his wrist and wouldn't let him go. She'd held him so hard and so close that she wouldn't let him be. He had tried to get away from her but it was only when Tala had forcefully stepped in and touched the woman's hand did she release him. The woman reeled back as though she'd been burnt, and now he knew it was because she was truly disgusted by him. Kai had been horrified by the woman and he'd run away from her, his instincts on fire as they told him to leave. He was right...she really was insane._

"_I tried feeding you to that wolf. An accident...they would say it was just an accident." He clutched his shoulder where the largest of all the bites were. He knew that it had never happened, and that the bites had been from Luna trying to carry him as she would any other pup, but it still stung to hear the viscious words from this woman's mouth. "Then that whore called that man!" He blinked, his mouth dropping._

"_Okaa-san called Boris?" He asked, calling the woman he'd always thought of as his mother as the name he'd always said to her. He could hardly believe it._

"_Yes! She called him and told him that I was going to kill you, that you were going to die, and that man sent his army in to capture me!" She howled in rage, even as her face dropped more in color. She was dying, she was going to die very soon now. The only thing keeping her alive now was her rage at this boy. "They took me back to this place and all I got was a slap on my wrist, but oh how I broke that man...oh how he was destroyed by the thought of you being dead. That I had killed his pride and joy. His heir to his empire..." She was laughing so hard now. "You're what killed him in the end you little freak. Your death made him hate all children who were mockeries of the fact his child was gone..."_

_Tala closed his eyes and tried to remember the first memory he had of Boris. He tried to recall the man's face. He had been so shocked. The guard that had brought him to the man had pressed him into the man's chest, and the man's arms had wrapped around him. He was awkward and nervous, and Tala had felt drawn to him. He'd tried to hug his neck, but his little arms couldn't reach. He settled for resting his head on the man's chest and gripping his shirt._

_Of all the people that had come and taken him, only this man had made him feel comfortable. Only this man...after a few minutes like that the man released him though. Sending him away with one of the guards. The boy fought like a wild cat. He was confused and scared, and he'd wanted to stay with his father...a man he didn't even know was his father at the time._

"_Then you came back..." He looked at her, and scowled slightly. How could she call herself a mother? He couldn't even imagine what life was like for his little brother. "You came back and he was so pleased that he was getting out of my control once more...so I needed to kill you...make him realize the error of his ways." She reached towards him, pulling him closer as she spoke. He didn't resist, he knew if she tried anything he'd be able to defeat it. "But he stopped me then too. He knew now though that if he let it be known that you were alive, showed you any love, I'd do it again and again...so he stopped."_

_Back then, he hadn't known what was being said, he'd been so confused and so unsure. All he knew was that the man who he had for some reason been drawn to, was walking away and he was alone once more. Ever since that day Boris had never treated him as a son. He never treated him as his child, and had only made brief references to their supposed relationship. It was all this woman. This woman had destroyed any chance he had of having a childhood. This disgusting woman. This woman was the guilty one._

"_I told him that _my_ child," Kai "couldn't be aloud to stay with his parents any longer. They needed to die. He never told me you were alive though...he never told me that you were being raised by those people. He wanted it to happen though...it's why he kept it a secret. He wanted you to grow up free." She scoffed. "You were nothing but a tool from the start though. You were always slated to die from the very beginning...you were never supposed to have a happy life." He sighed, growing weary of this woman's talk about his life. He didn't find her constant rambling interesting at all. "Those bastard's died...and then the Abbey was destroyed...and I told him how the children all needed to be treated...and he did it. He has only ever been a pawn..."_

"_What about Kiril?" He asked, wanting to skip over this part. She reeled back._

"_Don't you dare speak the name of my prince you filthy demon!" He glowered at her. She was an idiot if she really thought that boy was a Prince, but at least he knew well enough to know where Boris had gotten it from. This bitch was really laying it on thick. "He is the heir to the world, the prince of our people, he's special!"_

"_He's four." Tala muttered, clearly not impressed. "And gone. We'll probably never see him again." He couldn't help but feel a blaze of satisfaction at her face. "And you just killed the only little heirs you'll ever see again." He leaned forwards, his face close to hers as she was staring up at him with wide eyes. He hated her. He honestly hated her. He wanted her to just disappear, and he wanted to get his fangs in before she left. "I'm all that's left...your little demon...I'm all the prince you'll ever see. Kiril is gone. Your twins are gone...and I'm all that's left." She had tears running down her face._

"_Find him-" She begged, her voice breaking as she took a shuddering breath. "Find him! Take care of him!" She held onto her first born's shirt as she gasped out the last words she would ever say._

"_I thought I was a demon...you want a demon raising your prince?" He asked angrily, and she gasped out her last words:_

"_Yes, because even as a demon...you're his son...and that makes you...the best guardian...for my Prince..." Her eyes fluttered closed, and he stayed like that for a long while, staring at the woman's dead body in silence. He hated her. So when the tears came, he knew they weren't for her. He pulled away and looked at his little brother and sister._

_He walked towards them and he picked them both up. He held them to his chest and he wept for them. These poor little children who were never given the chance to breathe clean air. These poor babes who were never going to experience the touch of love or the hold of family._

_The door opened, and he didn't look up to know who it was. The man walked towards him, and for the first time in the boy's life, he was given a hug from the man who had never truly been a father to him. The man stayed on the floor, his arms wrapped around three of his four children. He stayed with him and he held him close._

_For the first time Tala didn't want to see this man put away. For the first time he regretted saying he didn't care if the man lived or died. For the first time Tala wanted to just forget all of this and live a normal life with this man. He wanted to pull Kiril out of hiding and the three of them go off and live as a normal family should._

_Then he thought of all the others. All the others who had been hurt and killed by this man. Orders or not, this man was no better then the guards of the Abbey. Twisted sick and wrong, this man may not have been the mastermind, but he was the one who led the assaults and the attacks. He was the one who had done it all. So despite the fact that the woman who had been responsible for it all had just passed, this man was still the one who was leading the operation._

_And he had a family. He had five brothers, and two sisters. He had parents who had raised him with love. He had a grandfather who cared for him. He had two father figures, one from the ISA, and one from his time away. He had them...he had them and he did not need the darkness of this man and the obsession with that woman._

_So he pulled away. He pulled from the man's grasp, and ignored the pained look on his face. He pulled away, and pressed the children into his arms, and then left. He left the room without so much as a word. He left without a care. He would see that man in jail, and he would see the Abbey in ruin. Then he'd go back, and fulfill the promise he'd made to his mother before she died._

_He would raise Kiril. He would treat him with love. He would make sure that little boy saw the happiest moments of the world. He would keep him from misery, and he would raise him as his own child if he had to. He would be father and brother. He would care for that child and raise him as he himself should have been raised._

_That was his promise, and even if he had never made it, he would have done it anyway. It was what that boy deserved. Because he was alive, and he was going to stay that way. Je ne mourrai pas. - something that Adeline had told him as a chant, prayer, or belief once- I will not die. And he wasn't dead. He was alive...and he wasn't going to die. He had a world to change first._

But as the nightmares faded, he would look over to Anna who was sleeping soundly next to him, and he found that he didn't care. When they moved back to Russia, leaving Livorno as a vacation home, he understood that things would take some getting used to.

Kai never really resigned from the ISA. He stayed behind as an officer, but wasn't on active duty. He was taking an extended leave of absence and focusing himself on Hiwatari Enterprises – a world, he said, that was his playground.

Tala was the commander and chief of all of the F-Fives. That was agreed upon already. He would run any missions they wanted to do, and he would take care of them. Even if an F-Five was working for another branch, it was only under his juristiction. Tat way no one would be able to take advantage of their skills and use them for their own means.

Ian moved away from the compound. His heart never really in teaching and raising kids. No one held it against him. He had a father and family that was waiting for him, and he wanted to meet his siblings. He said goodbye and packed his bags, handing in his badge, and moving on to have a better life.

Spencer and Bryan stayed behind with the others though, they wanted to help out the school. They too stayed with the ISA and became seconds after Tala. In this, they could truly say that they were officially placed above Kai who was after them in rank due to his extended hiatus and work with his company.

They all had nightmares, that was to be expected, but they moved on, and they lived with them. They would see the F-Fives off and they would make sure their future was bright. The Teams of the World gave them their full support, and Kai was welcomed back any time he went to visit them. Life was finally starting to get better, especially when one day for lunch, Kai turned to Luka who was busy nibbling on a sandwich, wearing glasses now instead of the contacts he'd never really liked, and said the one sentence that finally put an end to their saga of pain and turmoil that had started since their parents had died all those years ago.

"Alright, you can call me Sacha, but I've got a few ground rules. Number one, under no circumstances do you say it in front of the Blade Breakers or the like...number two, no business meetings or anything like that, and number three, you have no permision to spread my permision around. I get to say who gets to say it. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." He smiled brightly, a truly relaxed smile of peace. The door opened and little Kiril ran forward, jumping into his brothers arms and hugging him about the neck. He was chattering away happily, and Anna was at the door, clearly having led the boy to his brother, a polite smile on her face, and he smiled back.

"Come and join me, Dama Anya." He told her as he held out his hand. "Always good to run things with a smile, I always say." He didn't, but that was alright. She took it, smiled, and they were truly at peace. Truly a family. And all memories of being on the three, faded to the past.

**Windstar: **This is it, the end. As a writer of fanfiction for several years I have to admit that this site has honed my writing skills greatly. Where in the past my stories used to be along the lines of "Tala weren't happy cause he had bad day lol" now I can honestly say that I believe my writing skills have improved greatly. I owe it all to my fans who have written such great constructive critisism. Now, at seventeen, I can honestly say that I can write stories of fiction that are actually worth reading.

Believe me when I say I read a story I wrote six years ago and was apalled by the fact that my chapters were all of a page long with needless OCs that were bitchy and annoying and all I wanted to do was kill them in the end - and that was my own work! I deleated it promptly from the site, but if you read it I apologize. I blame it on the fact that I was a middle schooler with no sense of writing skill.

I put a lot of OCs in my stories still, but I hope you didn't mind. It's simply because I know that the characters we know and love do not live in bubbles that keep them from interacting with anyone else in the world. I know it's not possible, so I tried to create characters that could fit into their lives without distracting the reader from the people they truly cared about.

That being said, LAD is going to have even more OCs then this did, and it's going to focus on them more then this did. It's just how the story seems to be turning out, and I have to admit - I didn't plan it like that. It was simply, and purely, accidental.

Characters that will make an appearance or will be mentioned a lot are the following:

Anna (obviously), Kiril, Adrien, Michaels, Christopher, Anna's family, Korg, and others.

Kiril and Adrien are a _major _part of the story. You'll be hearing a lot more about them. You'll be seeing a lot more of them. I know that Adrien only appeared in passing, but you'll get to know much more about him as time goes on.

I know that OCs aren't peoples favorite, but it's the Bubble Theory, and I have to go with it.

**Tentative (extremely long needs to be shortened) Summary for Lies and Deceit Sequel to On the Three:**

Years after the rigged World Championships, the Demolition Boys find themselves running not only a school of Abbey boys who are trying to fit into society, but also missions for the ISA. Everything ran smoothly for a long while, before multiple disasters start occuring all climaxing when Anna Jones vanishes off the face of the earth. The only thing left behind is a note that says that she wants nothing more to do with them or their school, and that she simply wants to be left alone. Heartbroken, Tala tries to find her with no luck. (**see Operation Desert Storm) **Almost six years later however, new information starts arising. Someone is using the Black Dranzer program to break into the ISA and the BBASS. Someone's leaving a series of complicated hacks and back hacks and it's all to get information that shouldn't be released to the public...Believing it to be Anna the Freedom Officers (Demolition Boys all grown up) embark on a mission to not only find their friend, but also stop a new evil that is threatening to shake the grounds of the Earth once again. Tangled in this web of lies and this path of deceit are people long thought to have been dead, and friends who really were foes.

**My Best Wishes,**

**Windstar**

**AKA: Arin Maximus**

**Author of the upcoming Carpediem Trilogy.**

Now at long last, I wish you all the best of luck and I hope you all have a great school/work year.


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